Several dead as tornadoes ravage southeastern US

COLUMBIA, Tenn. — Forecasters warned that a wave of dangerous U.S. storms could march through parts of the South early Thursday morning, after the previous day’s storms spawned damaging tornadoes and massive hail, leaving two dead in Tennessee and one dead in North Caroline.

The storms continue an outbreak of torrential rain and tornadoes that has hit the entire country this week, from the Plains to the Midwest and now the Southeast. At least four people have died in storms since Monday.

See more information: Severe storms and tornadoes in Louisiana and neighboring states leave one dead and thousands without power

Amid Wednesday’s storms, the National Weather Service continued to issue tornado warnings that extend past midnight in North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri and Kentucky. Parts of Arkansas and Mississippi were also under pre-dawn tornado watches.

A storm that hit northeast Tennessee on Wednesday brought strong winds that downed power lines and trees. Bob Brooks, sheriff of Claiborne County, about 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 Maury County town of Columbia, where the National Weather Service said a likely tornado had touched down. Columbia is south of Nashville.

Homes were damaged and people were injured, according to Lynn Thompson, assistant director of Maury County 911. Thompson told the Associated Press he could not provide further details: “We are getting overwhelmed right now.”

Rita Thompson, spokeswoman for Maury Regional Health, said the hospital received five patients, including the person who died. Another was in serious condition and three had injuries that were not life-threatening, she said.

The storms also prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to issue a temporary shutdown at Nashville International Airport and the National Weather Service to issue a tornado emergency — its highest warning level — for other nearby areas south of the state capital, including Chapel Hill and Eagleville.

Meanwhile, torrential rain and storm surge led to water rescues northeast of Nashville.

“Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area prone to flooding or under an evacuation order,” the National Weather Service warned in issuing a flash flood emergency.

In North Carolina, a state of emergency was declared Wednesday night for Gaston County, west of Charlotte, following a large storm that downed power lines and toppled trees, including one that landed on a car. One person in the car died and another was taken to a hospital, authorities said.

Storms hit the region on Wednesday after parts of the central United States were hit on Monday by heavy rain, high winds, hail and tornadoes, including a deadly tornado that ripped through an Oklahoma city and killed one person. Then, on Tuesday, the Midwest felt the brunt of the bad weather.

The National Weather Service said tornadoes touched down in parts of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana on Tuesday.

In Michigan, tornadoes touched down in the southwestern part of the state, in and around Kalamazoo County, according to the National Weather Service. Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for four counties.

The Portage area of ​​Kalamazoo County was hit hard when a FedEx facility was destroyed, leaving about 50 people temporarily stranded inside due to downed power lines.

Travis Wycoff ventured outside Tuesday night after seeing on radar that a tornado had touched the Portage area, and said he helped an elderly couple out of their partially collapsed home and freed a service dog from another. House.

“There were a lot of people running through the streets trying to find people and their pets,” Wycoff said. “It was a lot of chaos.”

In adjacent Pavilion Township, more than a dozen homes were destroyed in a mobile home park and 16 people were injured, Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller said.

Samantha Smith grabbed a box Wednesday afternoon outside her mother’s partially destroyed home in Pavilion Township. Inside the box were his grandmother’s ashes. Being able to retrieve the most precious items offered Smith a rare moment of relief amid the storm’s devastation. She said her parents and brother were injured during the storm but survived.

“I’ve thanked God probably a billion times since this happened yesterday,” she said. “My children are healthy and good. We just need to recover what we lost.”

Tornadoes were also confirmed in Pennsylvania, around Pittsburgh, central Arkansas and northern West Virginia. The West Virginia twister was at least the 11th tornado this year in the state, which sees two tornadoes in an average year.

Both the Plains and the Midwest have been hit by tornadoes this spring.

—Cappelletti and White reported from Detroit. Associated Press journalists from around the country contributed to this report, including Rio Yamat, Heather Hollingsworth, Colleen Slevin, Jim Salter, Kathy McCormack, Sarah Brumfield, Beatrice Dupuy, Alexa St.