At least two killed in severe storm
Multiple tornadoes confirmed to have touched down in several states
Severe storms tore through the central and southeast U.S. late Tuesday and Wednesday, spawning damaging tornadoes, producing massive hail, and killing one person in Tennessee and another in North Carolina when trees toppled onto their vehicles.
The storm that rumbled across northeastern Tennessee brought high winds that knocked down powerlines and trees. Claiborne County Sheriff Bob Brooks said a 22-year-old man was in a car struck by one of the trees.
Wednesday afternoon, a tornado emergency — the weather service’s highest alert level — was issued for an area south of Nashville including the towns of Spring Hill, Chapel Hill and Eagleville.
A tornado warning had previously been issued in nearby Columbia, about 72 kilometres south of Nashville. People in Columbia were injured and homes were damaged, according to Lynn Thompson, assistant director of Maury County 911.
In North Carolina, a state of emergency was declared for Gaston County Wednesday evening following a large storm. First responders were working to clear roads of downed power lines and broken trees and were helping residents, officials said. The New Hope Fire Department responded to a tree down on a car. One person in the car was killed and another was taken to a hospital, officials said.
More than 135,000 customers had lost power in the state as of Wednesday evening, according to PowerOutage.us.
Tornadoes were first reported after dark Tuesday in parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, according to the National Weather Service. The storms came a day after a deadly twister ripped through an Oklahoma town.
The National Weather Service confirmed tornadoes touched down Tuesday in western Ohio: five in Warren County and one each in Darke, Mercer and Auglaize counties.
Tuesday’s storms came a day after parts of the central United States were battered by heavy rain, strong winds, hail and twisters. Both the Plains and Midwest have been hammered by tornadoes this spring. Across the U.S., the entire week is looking stormy. The Midwest and the South are expected to get the brunt of the bad weather through the rest of the week, including in Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis and Cincinnati — cities where more than 21 million people live. It should be clear over the weekend.