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Mississippi tornadoes kill at least three as storms sweep across South At least six dead as tornadoes and storms sweep across US
(35 minutes later)
At least three people have been confirmed dead in Mississippi as tornadoes swept through the state. At least six people have died after a storm system forecasters called “particularly dangerous” swept across the country on Wednesday.
One death was confirmed in Marshall County by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and two others in Benton County were reported by the sheriff’s office amid forecasts 14 tornadoes would touch down. Tornadoes touched down in Indiana and Mississippi, where three were killed. A tree blew over onto a house in Arkansas, killing an 18-year-old woman and trapping a one-year-old child inside, authorities said. Rescuers pulled the toddler safely from the home. Two others were killed in Tennessee.
The state agency also reported more than 40 injuries in six counties but spokesman Greg Flynn warned that number could rise as the night goes on. Neither agency had any details as to ages or gender of the deceased. Authorities in Mississippi did not have details of those dead after multiple tornadoes hit the state.
At least 20 homes in the north-west part of the state were destroyed or damanged. Benton County sheriff’s office says search-and-rescue crews were doing a house-by-house search to make sure residents were accounted for. In Benton County, where two deaths occurred and at least two people were missing, search-and-rescue crews were doing a house-by-house search to make sure residents were accounted for.
At least 4 killed as 'spring storm' spawns twisters, strong winds, snarling holiday travel https://t.co/hERDShgyDo pic.twitter.com/lP5cmNp0CyAt least 4 killed as 'spring storm' spawns twisters, strong winds, snarling holiday travel https://t.co/hERDShgyDo pic.twitter.com/lP5cmNp0Cy
There are hopes the strong tornadoes are beginning to wind down but Storm Prediction Center meteorologist Matt Mosier said overnight winds were expected along with the possibility of isolated tornados. A tornado damaged or destroyed at least 20 homes in the north-west part of the state. Clarksdale’s mayor, Bill Luckett, said the only confirmed casualty was a dog killed by storm debris. Planes at a small airport overturned and an unknown number of people were injured.
It comes after forecasters warned of a “particularly dangerous situation” on Wednesday as they issued new tornado watches for large swaths of Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas, two days before Christmas.
Tornadoes touched down in Mississippi and Indiana, the National Weather Service said. The spring-like storms damaged buildings and knocked down trees, and thousands of people were without power in Indiana and Arkansas.
7-year-old boy among 3 dead, 40 injured in tornado and severe storm outbreak: https://t.co/I6grctpAIk pic.twitter.com/WjEHcEJUBG
A tree blew over onto a house in Arkansas, killing an 18-year-old woman and trapping a one-year-old child inside, authorities said. Rescuers pulled the toddler safely from the home after the Wednesday morning incident about 65 miles north-west of Little Rock.
In north-west Mississippi, a tornado damaged or destroyed at least 20 homes. Clarksdale mayor Bill Luckett said the only confirmed casualty was a dog killed by storm debris. Planes at a small airport overturned and an unknown number of people were injured.
“I’m looking at some horrific damage right now,” the mayor said. “Sheet metal is wrapped around trees; there are overturned airplanes; a building is just destroyed.”“I’m looking at some horrific damage right now,” the mayor said. “Sheet metal is wrapped around trees; there are overturned airplanes; a building is just destroyed.”
In Como, Mississippi, Frances May said the storm didn’t seem very violent when it passed a couple of miles from her home, yet she later saw the remains of three or four homes that were destroyed. Television images showed the tornado appeared to be on the ground for more than 10 minutes. Interstate 55 was closed in both directions as the tornado approached, the Mississippi Highway Patrol said.
“There are some houses that were blown away,” said May, who runs the Como Inn. “They were brick houses on a slab. The roofs came off and most of the walls are gone.” After an EF-1 tornado struck the south Indianapolis suburb of Greenwood, television stations showed pictures of damage including a portion of a roof blown off a veterinary office.
The damage was very isolated, she said: Diners were still eating at a downtown steakhouse in the tiny town just a few miles from the devastation. The Tennessee Department of Health confirmed on Wednesday night that two people were killed in severe storms. Officials said the deaths, one male and one female, occurred in Perry County. No further details were available.
The biggest threat for tornadoes was in a region of 3.7 million people in Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas and parts of Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky, according to the national Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma. The center issued a “particularly dangerous situation” alert for the first time since June 2014, when two massive EF4 twisters devastated a rural Nebraska town, killing two people.
The greatest risk for a few “intense, long-tracked tornadoes” will be through Wednesday night.
About 120 miles (193km) east of the tornado, Brandi Holland, a convenience store clerk in Tupelo, Mississippi, said people were reminded of a tornado that damaged or destroyed more than 2,000 homes and businesses in April 2014.
“They’re opening all our tornado shelters because they say there’s an 80% chance of a tornado today,” Holland said.
7-year-old boy among 3 dead, 40 injured in tornado and severe storm outbreak: https://t.co/I6grctpAIk pic.twitter.com/WjEHcEJUBG
In the small coastal town of Loxley, Alabama, Mandy Wilson watched the angry gray sky and told drivers to be careful as she worked a cash register at Love’s Travel Stop.
“It’s very ugly; it’s very scary,” Wilson said. “There’s an 18-wheeler turned over on I-10. There’s water standing really bad. It’s a really interesting way to spend Christmas Eve eve.”
In parts of Georgia, including Atlanta, a flood watch was posted through Friday evening as more than 4 inches (102mm) was expected, the National Weather Service said.
The threat of severe weather just before Christmas is unusual, but not unprecedented, said Greg Carbin, a meteorologist at the national Storm Prediction Center.
Twisters hit south-east Mississippi exactly a year ago, killing five people and injuring dozens of others. On Christmas Day in 2012, a storm system spawned several tornadoes, damaging homes from Texas to Alabama.
Emergency officials in Tennessee worried that powerful winds could turn holiday yard decorations into projectiles, the same way gusts can fling patio furniture in springtime storms, said Marty Clements, director of the Madison County Emergency Management Agency in Jackson, the state’s largest city between Memphis and Nashville.
In Arkansas, Pope County Sheriff Shane Jones said the 18-year-old woman was killed when a tree crashed into her bedroom. The woman and her 1 ½-year-old sister were sleeping in a bedroom of the house near Atkins about 65 miles (105km) north-west of Little Rock, when winds uprooted the tree that crashed through the roof.