(Columbia) A wave of dangerous storms began hitting parts of the southern United States on Thursday, a day after severe weather accompanied by tornadoes killed at least three people in the region.
A strong line of storms swept through Atlanta near the end of the morning rush hour. Airports in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, experienced delays. The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center reported an “increased risk” of severe weather from Texas to South Carolina.
These storms are part of a series of torrential rains and tornadoes that hit the Plains, the Midwest and now the Southeast this week. At least four people have died since Monday. This weather pattern follows a stormy April in which the United States experienced 300 confirmed tornadoes, the second highest number of tornadoes ever recorded for that month and the highest number of tornadoes since 2011.
According to PowerOutage.us, nearly a quarter of a million homes and businesses were still without power Thursday in several Southern states after the previous night’s storms.
A Tennessee storm damaged homes, injured people, toppled power lines and trees, and killed a 22-year-old man riding in a car in Claiborne County, north of Knoxville, officials said. authorities. A second person was killed south of Nashville in Columbia, where authorities said what was likely a tornado ripped homes from their foundations.
Torrential rains led to flash flooding and rescues northeast of Nashville. Nashville’s main airport was temporarily grounded and weather services issued a tornado warning, their highest alert level, for surrounding areas.
Schools were closed Thursday in several Tennessee counties. In Georgia, some districts north of Atlanta canceled classes or delayed school start times due to overnight storm damage, including trees falling on homes and vehicles in the area. Clarkesville. No injuries were reported.
A strong tornado damaged at least 20 homes in DeKalb County in northern Alabama and caused injuries but no deaths, authorities said.
In North Carolina, a state of emergency was declared Wednesday evening for Gaston County, west of Charlotte, after a storm toppled power lines and trees, including one that crushed a car. One person in the car was killed and another was taken to the hospital, authorities said.
The storms follow heavy rain, strong winds, hail and tornadoes in parts of the central United States on Monday, including a tornado that ravaged an Oklahoma town and killed one person. On Tuesday, the Midwest was hardest hit by the bad weather. Tornadoes touched down areas of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, according to the weather service.
The Kalamazoo, Michigan, area was hit hard: a FedEx facility was destroyed and downed power lines trapped around 50 people.
Tornadoes were also confirmed near Pittsburgh, central Arkansas and northern West Virginia. The West Virginia tornado was at least the eleventh of the year in this state, which only experiences two on average annually.
The Plains and Midwest have been hit by tornadoes this spring.
reference: www.lapresse.ca