Storms spawn twisters in Mississippi, kill 3 across South

Much of the South faced more severe weather Tuesday that has killed at least three people, spawned tornadoes Sunday night and Monday and damaged homes and uprooted trees from Mississippi to West Virginia.

Parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, as well as corners of Arkansas and Georgia were at enhanced risk for the worst weather, according to the national Storm

Prediction Center.

That zone is home to more than 11 million people and includes the cities of Nashville, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Jackson, Mississippi, forecasters said.

“We’ll see all three threats as far as hail, wind and tornadoes on Tuesday,” said Mike Edmonston, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Mississippi.

With warnings about possible tornadoes stretching from Louisiana eastward, dozens of school systems in Mississippi and Alabama dismissed students early so buses and cars would not have to be on the road during potentially violent weather. Torrential rains flooded streets around metro Birmingham, Ala.

A Tennessee woman died when a tree fell on her home as storms moved through the state Tuesday, Weakley County Emergency Management Director Ray Wiggington told WKRN-TV. He said at least six mobile homes were damaged by the falling tree around 4 a.m.

At least eight people were injured when storms that brought tornadoes to Texas flipped tractor-trailers on an interstate and damaged structures. Three drivers were hospitalized, one with serious injuries, after their tractor-trailers overturned in the storms Monday night along Interstate 35 near Waxahachie, about 30 miles south of Dallas, officials said. A National Weather Service spokesman said a tornado occurred in the area but they were still trying to determine its intensity. In addition to the injured tractor-trailer drivers, five others in Texas were hospitalized after the storm came through Ellis County, an official said. County Judge Todd Little told KXAS between 25 to 50 structures were damaged, but they had no fatalities.

Tuesday’s storms could include wind gusts of up to 70 mph and hail to the size of golf balls, forecasters said, noting that “tornadoes are likely Tuesday into Tuesday evening” in parts of Mississippi. Some tornado warnings were issued Tuesday morning in rural areas east of Nashville, Tennessee.

A tornado warning in Atlanta forced thousands to seek shelter Monday and one man was killed when a falling tree brought power lines onto his vehicle in Douglasville, Georgia, west of Atlanta, Douglas County spokesman Rick Martin said. And in middle Georgia, Carla Harris, 55, was killed after a tree fell onto her Bonaire home, Houston County emergency officials said.