A wave of dangerous storms in the US could move through the southern parts of the country early Thursday, after storms a day earlier produced devastating tornadoes and powerful hail that killed people in Tennessee and in North Carolina, US media reported.
The storms continued an outbreak of heavy rain and tornadoes that has travelled across the country this week, from the Plains to the Midwest and now in the southeastern US. At least four people have died as a result of the storms since Monday.
On Wednesday, the National Weather Service continued to issue tornado warnings that lasted until midnight in North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri and Kentucky. A tornado warning was also in effect for parts of Arkansas and Mississippi into the wee hours of the morning.
One of the storms that swept through northeast Tennessee on Wednesday brought high winds that damaged power lines and trees. Bob Brooks, sheriff of Claiborne County, an hour north of Knoxville, said a 22-year-old man was in a car when he was fatally struck by one of the trees.
A second person died in the town of Columbia in Maury County, where the National Weather Service said a tornado likely touched down. Columbia is just south of Nashville.
Lynn Thompson, assistant director of Maury County 911 services, says homes were damaged and people were injured. Thompson told The Associated Press he could not provide any additional details:
“We’re getting overloaded right now.”
Rita Thompson, a spokeswoman for Maury Regional Health, said five patients were admitted to the hospital, including the deceased. Another patient is in serious condition and three suffered non-life threatening injuries, she said.
The storms also prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to declare a temporary shutdown at Nashville International Airport and the National Weather Service to declare a tornado emergency (the highest alert level) for others
In North Carolina, a state of emergency was declared in Gaston County west of Charlotte on Wednesday night after a powerful tornado downed power lines and felled trees, including one that fell on a car. Officials said one person in the car died and another was taken to a hospital.
The storms hit the region on Wednesday after heavy rains, high winds, hail and tornadoes hit the central US on Monday, including a deadly tornado that swept through a town in Oklahoma and killed one person. Then, on Tuesday, the brunt of the bad weather hit the Midwest.
The National Weather Service said tornadoes swept through parts of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana on Tuesday.
The Portage area of Kalamazoo County was hard hit, where a FedEx warehouse was destroyed, leaving about 50 people temporarily trapped by downed power lines.
Tornadoes were also reported in Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, central Arkansas and northern West Virginia. The tornado in West Virginia was at least the 11th tornado this year – the state averages two tornadoes.
