PAVILION TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — At least eight people. tornado Severe storms hit the south-central and southeastern United States on Tuesday and late Wednesday, killing one person in Tennessee and another in North Carolina when a tree fell on their car, while landfall was confirmed in Ohio. Three cases were also confirmed in Michigan.
The storm that hit northeast Tennessee brought strong winds and knocked down power lines and trees. Claiborne County Sheriff Bob Brooks said a 22-year-old man was the passenger in a vehicle that crashed into a tree.
A tornado emergency, the National Weather Service’s highest alert level, was issued Wednesday afternoon for areas south of Nashville, including the towns of Spring Hill, Chapel Hill and Eagleville.
A tornado warning had previously been issued near Columbia, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) south of Nashville. Maury County 911 Assistant Director Lynn Thompson said people were injured and homes were damaged in Columbia. Thompson told The Associated Press that he could not provide further details because “we are currently overcrowded.”
A state of emergency was declared in Gaston County in North Carolina Wednesday night after severe storms. First responders were removing downed power lines and broken trees from roads and providing relief to residents, officials said. The New Hope Fire Department responded to a tree that fell on a car. One person in the car died and the other was taken to the hospital, officials said.
More than 135,000 customers in the state were without power as of Wednesday evening, according to PowerOutage.us.
Tornadoes were reported in parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio for the first time after dark Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.The day after the storm Deadly twister hits Oklahoma town.
The National Weather Service confirmed tornadoes in western Ohio on Tuesday, with five tornadoes in Warren County and one each in Darke, Mercer and Auglaize counties. The National Weather Service said crews were still investigating to determine whether tornadoes also formed in Franklin and Butler counties. Radar shows a tornado hit Jefferson County, but teams need to assess the damage to determine that rating, said Jeff Craven, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers search for storm damage in Barnsdall, Okla., Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Mike Simmons/Tulsa World via AP)
On Wednesday, crews were able to survey damage caused by a strong storm that included hail and heavy rain, leaving thousands of utility customers without power.
Nathan Elzal, a meteorologist with the Michigan Weather Bureau, said one tornado each touched down in Kalamazoo, Cass and Branch counties (all in the southwestern part of the state). Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for four counties.
The Portage area of Kalamazoo County was severely damaged, with a FedEx facility destroyed and more than a dozen mobile homes destroyed. At one point, about 50 people were trapped inside the damaged facility due to the downed power lines.
More than a dozen homes were destroyed and 16 people were injured at a mobile home park in neighboring Pavilion Township, Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Samantha Smith emerged from her mother’s partially destroyed home in Pavilion Township, about 137 miles (220 kilometers) west of Detroit, clutching a box. Inside the box was her grandmother’s ashes. Being able to recover her most prized possessions gave Ms. Smith a rare moment of relief amidst the devastation of the storm.
Her parents and siblings were injured in the storm but survived.
“I thanked God probably a billion times since this happened yesterday,” she said. “My children are healthy and strong. I just have to get back what I lost.”
Travis Wyckoff said he ventured out Tuesday night after seeing radar show a tornado had touched down in the Portage area, rescuing an elderly couple from their partially destroyed home and rescuing his service dog from the home.
“A lot of people were running down the street trying to find people and pets,” Wyckoff said. “It was really chaos.”
In southern Indiana, the National Weather Service said a preliminary EF-0 tornado and 85 mph (137 kph) winds touched down early Wednesday, damaging homes in a subdivision north of the city of Sellersburg, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) away. confirmed that it was given. ) north of Louisville, Kentucky.
The Clark County Emergency Management Agency said 24 buildings were damaged by the storm.
Candice Holmes, who lives in the Lewis & Clark subdivision north of Sellersburg, said she and her husband and son took shelter in the bathroom when they heard the storm was approaching and “the winds just picked up.” Ta.
“It was over as quickly as it started, but it was definitely a scary moment,” Holmes told WDRB-TV. “And I’m glad we’re alive.”
The National Weather Service outside Pittsburgh confirmed that a brief tornado with maximum wind speeds of 100 mph (169 km/h) overturned a trailer and snapped more than a dozen trees in Findlay Township, Pennsylvania, early Wednesday morning.
In northern West Virginia, a tornado with maximum wind speeds of about 130 mph (209 kph) struck the area of Fairdale, about an hour northwest of Pittsburgh, in far eastern Ohio early Wednesday morning. The National Weather Service announced the first recorded tornado in Hancock County. This was at least the 11th tornado this year in West Virginia, which typically sees two tornadoes each year.
On Wednesday, baseball-sized hail was reported in areas just southwest of St. Louis, Missouri. Heavy rains caused flash flooding and at least one water rescue near Sullivan, a town that was hit by a small tornado just two days ago. Damaging hail was also reported in the Kansas City area.
Associated Press correspondent Donna Warder reports on more damage from the dangerous storm in parts of the Midwest.
A team from the National Weather Service also headed to Hot Springs, Arkansas, to assess the strength of the tornado that formed early Wednesday morning, forecaster Tabitha Clark said. The twister damaged some homes, uprooted trees and downed power lines. There were no immediate reports of injuries from the tornado, according to the state Emergency Management Agency.
Tuesday’s storm came a day after parts of the central United States were battered by heavy rain, strong winds, hail and twisters.both the plains and the midwest This spring, we were hit by a tornado..
It’s been a rough week all over the United States. The Midwest and South, which is home to more than 21 million people and includes cities such as Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis and Cincinnati, is expected to bear the brunt of the severe weather through the rest of the week. It should clear up by the weekend.
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Murphy reported from Oklahoma City. This report includes Rio Yamat, Heather Hollingsworth, Colleen Slevin, Jim Salter, Kathy McCormack, Sarah Brumfield, Beatrice Dupuis, Alexa St. John, Adrian Sainz, Jon Lavie, Associated Press reporters from around the country, including Lisa Bauman, contributed.
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