Flood-producing storms turn north
Devastated Southeast, now moving into Ohio
ATLANTA — Powerful storms rumbled over parts of the Southeast United States on Thursday, prompting a few tornado warnings, causing flash flooding and delaying the start of one of the world’s biggest sporting events, in Georgia.
The storm system, which has already been blamed for at least one death in Mississippi, demolished buildings and flooded streets in the New Orleans area Wednesday. It continued to spawn flash flood and tornado warnings in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina on Thursday.
More than 100,000 customers lacked power Thursday afternoon nationwide. That included more than 60,000 in Louisiana, which was hit hard by storms Wednesday, according to Poweroutage.us.
Now, forecasters say parts of Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia will be near the bull’s-eye of a new area of concern later Thursday. Those areas could see some tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail, according to the latest outlooks from the Storm Prediction Center.
The entire state of Ohio was under a flood watch Thursday afternoon. The ground there is already saturated with the potential for heavy rainfall on the way, said James Gibson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Ohio.
Public school students in at least a dozen counties in West Virginia were sent home early Thursday due to the arriving storms. Southern West Virginia was hit by 10 tornadoes April 2. It was a record for one day in the state, which gets two tornadoes in an average year.
In Augusta, Georgia, the start of the Masters golf tournament was delayed, tournament officials announced. Forecasters predicted wind gusts as high as 45 mph.
“Those wind speeds could easily knock down branches here and there,” said Brad Carlberg, a National Weather Service forecaster. “Just be aware of the weather and gusts, especially if you are near trees, because a branch could fall down at any time.”
Torrential rains early Thursday made roads impassable in Valdosta, Georgia, an emergency manager reported. In Tallahassee, Florida, storms toppled trees and caused significant street flooding, the weather service said.
Emergency responders Thursday afternoon were assessing damage near St. Augustine, Florida, where the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down earlier in the day.
Photos shared by St. Johns County Fire Rescue showed fences ripped apart, but no deaths or serious injuries were reported. Fire Rescue Chief Sean Mcgee said one person went to a local hospital with storm-related injuries, but they were not transported by rescue workers.
Storm damage was reported from Texas to the Florida Panhandle.
A tornado struck Slidell, about 30 miles northeast of New Orleans, on Wednesday. It ripped roofs off buildings and partially collapsed others in and around the city of about 28,000.