Dangerous severe storms again hitting Midwest, South
People still sorting through the wreckage of their homes after deadly weather hit over the weekend braced for another wave of strong storms, including tornadoes, that began rolling into parts of the Midwest and South beginning Tuesday evening. Officials warned residents to have shelter ready before going to sleep.
“This could be a night to just set up down in the basement to be safe,” said Tom Philip, a meteorologist in Davenport, Iowa.
The National Weather Service on Tuesday evening began issuing tornado warnings in Iowa and Illinois and said a confirmed twister was spotted southwest of Chicago near Bryant, Illinois. No damage was immediately reported.
The storms were expected to hammer some areas hit by severe weather and possibly dozens of tornadoes just days ago that killed at least 32 people, meaning more misery for those whose homes were destroyed in Arkansas, Iowa and Illinois. Dangerous conditions Tuesday also could stretch into parts of Missouri, southwestern Oklahoma and northeastern Texas. Farther south and west, fire danger remained high.
When a tornado hit Little Rock, Arkansas, last Friday, Kimberly Shaw peeked outside to film the storm, then suffered a painful foot injury that required stiches when a glass door behind her shattered and wind nearly sucked her away. With another storm coming, Shaw said she intends to be far more cautious this time and will rush to an underground shelter at her home.
“The original plan was just, ‘If we see a tornado coming, we’ll get in the shelter,’” Shaw said. “But now it’s like you’re not going to see it coming. You’re not going to hear it coming. You just need to get (inside the shelter) as soon as the warning goes out or if you just feel unsafe.”
Shaw added: “And there will be no videotaping.”
Ryan Bunker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma, predicted that Tuesday’s storm system could start as isolated supercells — with possible tornadoes, wind and hail — and “form into a line (of thunderstorms) and continue moving eastward.”
Earlier Tuesday, strong thunderstorms swept through the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois with winds up to 90 mph (145 kph) and baseball size hail. No injuries were reported but trees were downed and some businesses were damaged in Moline, Illinois.
The weather service and Illinois Emergency Management also said a tornado touched down Tuesday morning in the western Illinois community of Colona. Local news reports showed wind damage to some businesses.