A TORN CHRISTMAS PARTY photo, a scratched ultrasound image, a small dog, and old newspaper cuttings of US servicemen are just some of the hundreds of items being photographed and posted onto a special Facebook page dedicated to returning items found after powerful tornadoes tore through Alabama and other southern US states this week.

The page, Pictures and Documents found after the April 27, 2011 Tornadoes, has over 58,900 ‘likes’ and some 770 photos in its albums, at the time of writing.

Dozens of items have already been returned to their original owners – some over 100 miles away – after being posted on the site, according to the New York Times.

Messages posted in response to the photos range from the occasional “I don’t think this is that important” to “when u have nothing, even the smallest thing is priceless!” Others are posting messages of support for the survivors of the deadly storms.

Around 350 people have died across seven states in the storms and at least 248 of those were in Alabama; it has been the worst natural disaster in the US since Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005.

Weather forecasters had warned residents of the impending storms, but their size, power and concentration on populated areas meant many were unable to escape the destruction. The storms also seriously disrupted emergency services, destroying buildings and supplies, and have cut power supplies to about one million homes and businesses in Alabama.

- Additional reporting by the AP

Gallery: A small number of the hundreds of photographs posted to the Facebook site: