BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - Tornadoes caused widespread damage in Alabama's Jefferson County, which is struggling to refinance a $3.2 billion debt, but there were no estimates of cost yet, officials said on Thursday.

"There is so much damage and it is so widespread that it will take time to tell what the real cost is. We have people making an assessment right now of the financial cost," said Mark Kelly, spokesman for Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency.

At least 17 people were killed in the county in Wednesday's storms, he said.

(Reporting by Verna Gates, Writing by Matthew Bigg, editing by Diane Craft)