South again struck by storms
April’s severe weather carries into May with at least four dead
COLUMBIA, Tenn. — Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.
A heavy line of storms swept into Atlanta near the end of the morning rush hour. Busy hub airports in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, reported delays. The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center cited an “enhanced risk” for severe weather from Texas to South Carolina. An emergency manager reported “significant wind damage” from a possible tornado Thursday afternoon in the Vidalia, Georgia, area, a region known for producing onions.
The storms continue a streak of torrential rains and tornadoes this week from the Plains to the Midwest and, now, the Southeast. Since Monday, 39 states have been under threat of severe weather, and at least four people have died. On Wednesday, 98 million people were under some sort of severe weather risk, said Evan Bentley, a Storm Prediction Center forecaster.
The weather comes on the heels of a stormy April in which the U.S. had 300 confirmed tornadoes, the second-most on record for the month and the most since 2011.
More than 100,000 homes and businesses still lacked power Thursday afternoon in several Southern states after storms the night before.
One in Tennessee damaged homes, injured people, toppled power lines and trees, and killed a 22-year-old man in a car in Claiborne County, north of Knoxville, officials said. A second person was killed south of Nashville in Columbia, the seat of Maury County, where officials said a tornado with 140 mph winds damaged or destroyed more than 100 homes.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said the woman who died in Maury County was in a mobile home that was thrown several feet into a wooded area. Lee visited emergency managers and Tennessee Department of Transportation officials in the storm-stricken area Thursday. He thanked workers who spent the night clearing trees and debris from roads.
“We come out here when it’s intense like this to say thank you, but often times you do this every day,” Lee said.