At least three dead in storms in southeastern US after tornadoes devastated Midwest

Severe storms swept across the central and southeastern United States late Tuesday and Wednesday, triggering devastating tornadoes, producing massive hail and killing two people in Tennessee and another in North Carolina.

The storm that raged across Northeast Tennessee brought strong winds that downed power lines and trees. Claiborne County Sheriff Bob Brooks said a 22-year-old man was in a car that was struck by one of the trees. Claiborne County Mayor Joe Brooks also confirmed the death in a social media post.

A tornado emergency – the National Weather Service’s highest alert level – was declared Wednesday afternoon for an area south of Nashville, including the towns of Spring Hill, Chapel Hill and Eagleville.

The National Weather Service had previously reported a likely tornado on the ground in nearby Columbia, about 45 miles south of Nashville.

Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder confirmed in a statement that at least one person had died in the storm, but details about the cause of death were not immediately released.

Molder said there had been “a number of confirmed tornado touchdowns” in the area, resulting in “bodily injuries and property damage.”

Rita Thompson, marketing and communications director for Maury Regional Health, said the hospital admitted five patients. One died, another was in serious condition and three had injuries that were not life-threatening.

The Maury County Office of Emergency Management in a statement urged “everyone to stay away from areas affected by the storm,” adding that all schools in the county, which includes the city of Columbia, would remain closed Thursday.

Northeast of Nashville, a flash flood emergency has been declared for Sumner and Robertson counties, including the cities of Hendersonville and Gallatin. The National Weather Service said water rescue efforts were underway in those areas and described flooding from severe thunderstorms as life-threatening.

“Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing a flood zone or have an evacuation order,” the weather agency’s warning said.

The National Weather Service in Nashville issued a tornado warning for parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee until 3 a.m. CDT on Wednesday evening. The weather service continued to issue tornado warnings into the night, primarily in Tennessee, but also in Missouri, Alabama, Georgia and Texas.

In North Carolina, a state of emergency was declared for Gaston County on Wednesday evening following a severe storm. First responders were working to clear streets of downed power lines and fallen trees and assist residents, officials said. The New Hope Fire Department responded when a tree fell on a car. One person in the car was killed and another was taken to a hospital, officials said.

More than 152,000 customers were without power in North Carolina and Tennessee as of Wednesday evening, according to utility PowerOutage.us.

Tornadoes were first reported after dark Heavy rain occurred in parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. The storms arrived Day after a deadly twister ripped through a town in Oklahoma.

The National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes struck western Ohio on Tuesday: five in Warren County and one each in Darke, Mercer and Auglaize counties. The weather service said crews are still assessing areas in Franklin and Butler counties to determine whether tornadoes struck there as well. Radar indicated a tornado hit Jefferson County, but teams need to assess the damage to determine its classification, said Jeff Craven, a meteorologist with the weather service in Pittsburgh.

On Wednesday, emergency crews were able to assess the damage caused by the strong storms, which brought hail and heavy rain and left thousands of utility customers without power.

In Michigan, weather service meteorologist Nathan Jeruzal said tornadoes there had struck one each in Kalamazoo, Cass and Branch counties – all in the southwestern part of the state. Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for four counties.

The Portage area in Kalamazoo County was hit hard when a FedEx facility was torn apart and more than a dozen mobile homes were destroyed. About 50 people were temporarily trapped in the damaged facility due to the downed power lines.

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

Samantha Smith clutched a box Wednesday afternoon as she left her mother’s partially destroyed home in Pavilion Township, about 137 miles west of Detroit. Her grandmother’s ashes were in the box. The opportunity to recover the most valuable items gave Smith a rare moment of relief amid the storm’s devastation.

Her parents and brother were injured during the storm but survived.

“I’ve probably thanked God a billion times since this happened yesterday,” she said. “My children are healthy and happy. We just have to make up for what we lost.”

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

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

In southern Indiana, the National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado touched down early Wednesday, damaging homes in a residential area north of the city of Sellersburg, about 12 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky.

According to the Clark County Emergency Management Agency, 24 structures were damaged by the storm.

Candice Holmes, a resident of the Lewis & Clark subdivision north of Sellersburg, said she, her husband and son took shelter in their bathroom when they heard the approaching storm and “the wind suddenly increased.”

“It was definitely a scary moment. … And I’m glad we’re alive,” Holmes told WDRB-TV.

Tornadoes were also confirmed in Pennsylvania, just outside Pittsburgh, central Arkansas and northern West Virginia. The West Virginia twister, which began early Wednesday in far eastern Ohio, was at least the 11th tornado this year in the state, which sees two tornadoes in an average year.

Baseball-sized hail was reported Wednesday in areas southwest of St. Louis, Missouri. Heavy rains caused flash flooding and at least one water rescue near Sullivan, a town hit by a small tornado just two days earlier. Devastating hail was also reported in the Kansas City area.

Tuesday’s storms came a day after parts of the central U.S. were hit by heavy rains, strong winds, hail and tornadoes. Both the Plains and the Midwest were hit by tornadoes this spring.

Across the U.S., the entire week looks stormy. The Midwest and South are expected to be hit hardest by the bad weather the rest of the week, including Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis and Cincinnati – cities home to more than 21 million people. It should be clear at the weekend.