Storms bring tornadoes, floods, power outages across the U.S.
ATLANTA • Potent thunderstorms have been blamed for one death and left more than 200,000 people without power across the southern United States — and fierce winds were expected to wallop parts of several states as new storms form Thursday, forecasters said.
Fallen trees ripped down power lines and crashed into buildings along a line from Texas to Alabama overnight and into Thursday, the national Storm Prediction Center reported.
A few isolated tornadoes were reported. Straight-line winds of up to 85 mph damaged roofs Wednesday in the northeast Texas city of Greenville, the National Weather Service reported Thursday. Local officials had initially suspected a tornado. In Mississippi, Jackson Salter, 19, died when a tree fell on his home Wednesday night, Washington County Coroner Methel Johnson told The Delta Democrat-Times.
More than 70,000 homes and businesses were without power in Arkansas on Thursday, and more than 30,000 outages each were reported in Texas, Louisiana and Alabama.
The storms were moving eastward bringing flooding, with more severe weather possible Thursday in Alabama and Georgia all the way up the Eastern Seaboard to Pennsylvania, forecasters said.
An area that includes North and South Carolina, eastern Georgia and southern Virginia will see an enhanced risk of wind damage from powerful Thursday afternoon storms, the Storm Prediction Center said. The region is home to 15.6 million people and includes Charlotte, N.C.
Downburst winds — strong winds that descend from a thunderstorms and spread out when they hit the ground — appear to be the greatest threat in this area Thursday, said Dan Miller, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Columbia, S.C.
Such winds hold the potential for serious damage, such as bringing trees and powerlines down and tearing into the shingles and siding on homes, he said.
Chris Smith makes his way through floodwaters Thursday to the Macedonia Baptist Church in Westville, N.J. Severe storms containing heavy rains and strong winds spurred flooding across southern New Jersey, disrupting travel and damaging some property.