Severe thunderstorms to flood Texas to Illinois through Saturday night
For the latest reports on the flooding and severe weather that has already plagued the Central states, please click here.
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Dangerous thunderstorms and flash flooding will continue to threaten lives and property across the central United States through Saturday night.
Some communities will be rocked by severe weather and flooding for the second consecutive day in a row.
The metro areas of St. Louis; Little Rock, Arkansas; Dallas, Tyler and San Antonio, Texas; and Shreveport, Louisiana, will be blasted by the thunderstorms during the first half of the weekend.
Residents in the above cities and their respective suburbs may contend with canceled or altered outdoor plans. Property damage, power outages and flooding may also occur.
The thunderstorms will follow the severe weather and flooding rain that started the weekend.
At least two tornadoes left a trail of damage in the Van Zandt and Henderson counties in Eastern Texas Saturday evening. Canton, in Van Zandt County, was hit by a confirmed tornado. Another tornado is believed to have touched down in Eustace, in Henderson County.
Dozens of cars flipped over on I-20 east of Canton, with at least 40 injuries reported.
AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Frank Strait expects the main concentration of severe weather to center over the Arklatex region into Saturday evening.
Damaging winds up to 70 mph will litter roads and neighborhoods with broken tree limbs and downed power lines. A few tornadoes could also touch down, threatening some communities with far more extensive damage.
Thunderstorms containing these hazards could reach as far north as Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and as far south as San Antonio, Texas.
The violent thunderstorms will sweep eastward and continue to pack a punch as they approach the lower Mississippi Valley during Saturday night.
“Damaging winds and hail will be the main threats through the overnight hours,” Strait said.
Areas from Illinois to Texas and Louisiana will not only be hit hard by severe weather, but also flooding rainfall.
“These thunderstorms will produce a large amount of rainfall in a short amount of time and will not be moving very quickly,” Strait said.
The thunderstorms could dump several inches of rain in as many hours, which can quickly overwhelm storm drains and cause streams and rivers to rise.
The downpours will renew or worsen flooding issues that inundated southern Missouri and neighboring areas earlier this weekend.
Additional severe weather will fire up across lower Mississippi Valley and points eastward on Sunday.
Communities from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi, to New Orleans will be at risk for the potentially damaging thunderstorms.
The greatest risks will be damaging winds and flooding downpours, but the strongest thunderstorms can also produce hail and isolated tornadoes.
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