At least 2 killed amid another tornado outbreak across the southern US
A powerful storm system that spun up tornadoes is being blamed for at least two fatalities. The flurry of twisters could make this month a record breaker in terms of tornado activity in the U.S.
By
Allison Finch, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Mar 31, 2022 10:59 AM EDT
|
Updated Mar 31, 2022 6:45 PM EDT
Thousands were without power after the line of severe weather.
A line of thunderstorms that stretched nearly 800 miles from Louisiana to southern Indiana packed strong winds and isolated tornadoes, killing at least two people and damaging many homes and businesses Wednesday only one week after multiple EF3 tornadoes wreaked havoc around New Orleans and parts of Texas.
Two people were killed and two others were injured Thursday morning when a tornado touched down just west of Tallahassee, near the town of Alford in the Florida Panhandle, according to The Associated Press. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office shared photos on Facebook showing the aftermath of the deadly twister, which toppled trees and tore down power lines. One home was completely obliterated. Trees were seen on top of another home that was photographed.
At least three tornadoes have been confirmed from the storms that raced across several states Wednesday into Wednesday night, and two dozen tornado reports were filed over that time. Nearly 185,000 customers across parts of five states were without power Thursday morning from the severe weather, according to PowerOutage.us.
The flurry of tornadoes Wednesday added to what could end up being a historically active month of March in terms of tornadoes reported in the U.S. Prior to Wednesday, the month of March was on the cusp of breaking the record for the most preliminary tornado reports in the calendar's third month with 187 preliminary reports tallied.
The worst of the storm damage was reported in Jackson, Mississippi, after a confirmed tornado tore through the area late Wednesday evening, resulting in widespread damage. Multiple downed trees, power lines and overturned mobile homes were reported across the state, according to WLBT, a local news outlet.
The home of Jackson resident Eunissa Hampton was destroyed by a tree that slammed through the ceiling, leaving a flooded home with a wiped-out kitchen and living room and quite a mess for her and her grandson.
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"Me and my 6-year-old grandson were in the kitchen, and I just heard a big boom,” Hampton told AccuWeather National Reporter Jillian Angeline, who was live on the scene. "I immediately ran with him. He was screaming to hide in the closet for shelter. After everything calmed down and I came out the room, that’s when I realized the tree had actually fallen in the house."
She's happy to be alive.
During the tornado warning in Jackson Wednesday evening, Thomas Dobbs, the Mississippi State Health Officer, posted a photo on Twitter of some members of the Mississippi State Department of Health seeking shelter in a safe space. The Mississippi Senate suspended its work Wednesday as the weather sirens blared.
In southeast Mississippi, a tight-knit community in McLain continues its cleanup after a possible tornado damaged homes and uprooted trees.
Pastor William Rutland of the First Pentecostal Church of McLain told Angeline he had been in the church with several others who had sought shelter during the storm when the ceiling began to bend in, moving up and down somewhere between 6 to 8 inches, he estimated.
"I started hollering at everybody, telling them to get down because we had several families here. We had people from the community that, whenever we have bad weather, they come here to seek refuge from the storm," Rutland said.
He had been running down the hallway, trying to reach his family, when a door slammed shut in his face. Then the lights flickered out, and the ceiling started caving in, Rutland recounted.
"It was pretty intense," he said. There were no major injuries reported in McLain, though there was structural damage to the church following the storm.
Elsewhere, paneling fell five stories from the side of a downtown hotel and onto the roof of a building below Wednesday evening in Nashville, Tennessee, according to the AP. The Nashville fire department issued a community safety alert warning that the debris could become airborne in the wind.
Strong winds in Louisiana overturned tractor-trailers, sent a tree crashing into a home, knocked down power lines and peeled the roof from a mobile home, according to the AP. Meteorologists hadn't confirmed any tornadoes in the state as of Thursday.
Earlier Wednesday, around 4 a.m. CDT, an EF3 tornado struck Springdale, Arkansas, and the nearby town of Johnson, which is about a three-hour drive northwest of Little Rock, injuring seven people, two of whom were critically injured, according to Washington County, Arkansas, Emergency Management Director John Luther. The elementary school in town took a direct hit from the twisters, as well as nearby houses.
After a survey team with the National Weather Service office in Tulsa, Oklahoma, assessed the damage, the twister was given a rating of EF3, with peak wind gusts of 145 mph. The tornado was on the ground for 8 minutes and traveled a total of 5.2 miles, according to the damage survey issued by the NWS.
The NWS in Kansas City confirmed an EF1 tornado with wind speeds of 90 mph touched down in St. Joseph, Missouri, which is just north of Kansas City, Tuesday night.
As the month comes to a close, March has been an active month in terms of severe weather across the U.S. As of March 29, the preliminary tornado count stood at 187 for the month, according to the Storm Prediction Center (SPC). The tornadoes from March 30 and any more tornadoes that may touch down on March 31 will add to this total, likely making this a record-breaking month.
Compared to previous years, March 2022 was already the third most active March for tornadoes prior to Wednesday's outbreak of severe weather. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the most active March on record since 1950, was in 2017, when 192 touched down across the U.S. The second most active March was just last year in 2021 when 191 preliminary twisters were recorded. The third most active March for tornadoes was in 1976 with 180 twisters.
The heightened tornado activity has also resulted in an unusually high number of twisters in the U.S. thus far this calendar year. Even before Wednesday, 286 tornadoes had been reported so far this year, a mark that is well ahead of the SPC 17-year mean of 216.
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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News / Severe Weather
At least 2 killed amid another tornado outbreak across the southern US
A powerful storm system that spun up tornadoes is being blamed for at least two fatalities. The flurry of twisters could make this month a record breaker in terms of tornado activity in the U.S.
By Allison Finch, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Mar 31, 2022 10:59 AM EDT | Updated Mar 31, 2022 6:45 PM EDT
Thousands were without power after the line of severe weather.
A line of thunderstorms that stretched nearly 800 miles from Louisiana to southern Indiana packed strong winds and isolated tornadoes, killing at least two people and damaging many homes and businesses Wednesday only one week after multiple EF3 tornadoes wreaked havoc around New Orleans and parts of Texas.
Two people were killed and two others were injured Thursday morning when a tornado touched down just west of Tallahassee, near the town of Alford in the Florida Panhandle, according to The Associated Press. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office shared photos on Facebook showing the aftermath of the deadly twister, which toppled trees and tore down power lines. One home was completely obliterated. Trees were seen on top of another home that was photographed.
At least three tornadoes have been confirmed from the storms that raced across several states Wednesday into Wednesday night, and two dozen tornado reports were filed over that time. Nearly 185,000 customers across parts of five states were without power Thursday morning from the severe weather, according to PowerOutage.us.
The flurry of tornadoes Wednesday added to what could end up being a historically active month of March in terms of tornadoes reported in the U.S. Prior to Wednesday, the month of March was on the cusp of breaking the record for the most preliminary tornado reports in the calendar's third month with 187 preliminary reports tallied.
The worst of the storm damage was reported in Jackson, Mississippi, after a confirmed tornado tore through the area late Wednesday evening, resulting in widespread damage. Multiple downed trees, power lines and overturned mobile homes were reported across the state, according to WLBT, a local news outlet.
The home of Jackson resident Eunissa Hampton was destroyed by a tree that slammed through the ceiling, leaving a flooded home with a wiped-out kitchen and living room and quite a mess for her and her grandson.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
"Me and my 6-year-old grandson were in the kitchen, and I just heard a big boom,” Hampton told AccuWeather National Reporter Jillian Angeline, who was live on the scene. "I immediately ran with him. He was screaming to hide in the closet for shelter. After everything calmed down and I came out the room, that’s when I realized the tree had actually fallen in the house."
She's happy to be alive.
During the tornado warning in Jackson Wednesday evening, Thomas Dobbs, the Mississippi State Health Officer, posted a photo on Twitter of some members of the Mississippi State Department of Health seeking shelter in a safe space. The Mississippi Senate suspended its work Wednesday as the weather sirens blared.
In southeast Mississippi, a tight-knit community in McLain continues its cleanup after a possible tornado damaged homes and uprooted trees.
Pastor William Rutland of the First Pentecostal Church of McLain told Angeline he had been in the church with several others who had sought shelter during the storm when the ceiling began to bend in, moving up and down somewhere between 6 to 8 inches, he estimated.
"I started hollering at everybody, telling them to get down because we had several families here. We had people from the community that, whenever we have bad weather, they come here to seek refuge from the storm," Rutland said.
He had been running down the hallway, trying to reach his family, when a door slammed shut in his face. Then the lights flickered out, and the ceiling started caving in, Rutland recounted.
"It was pretty intense," he said. There were no major injuries reported in McLain, though there was structural damage to the church following the storm.
Elsewhere, paneling fell five stories from the side of a downtown hotel and onto the roof of a building below Wednesday evening in Nashville, Tennessee, according to the AP. The Nashville fire department issued a community safety alert warning that the debris could become airborne in the wind.
Strong winds in Louisiana overturned tractor-trailers, sent a tree crashing into a home, knocked down power lines and peeled the roof from a mobile home, according to the AP. Meteorologists hadn't confirmed any tornadoes in the state as of Thursday.
Earlier Wednesday, around 4 a.m. CDT, an EF3 tornado struck Springdale, Arkansas, and the nearby town of Johnson, which is about a three-hour drive northwest of Little Rock, injuring seven people, two of whom were critically injured, according to Washington County, Arkansas, Emergency Management Director John Luther. The elementary school in town took a direct hit from the twisters, as well as nearby houses.
After a survey team with the National Weather Service office in Tulsa, Oklahoma, assessed the damage, the twister was given a rating of EF3, with peak wind gusts of 145 mph. The tornado was on the ground for 8 minutes and traveled a total of 5.2 miles, according to the damage survey issued by the NWS.
The NWS in Kansas City confirmed an EF1 tornado with wind speeds of 90 mph touched down in St. Joseph, Missouri, which is just north of Kansas City, Tuesday night.
As the month comes to a close, March has been an active month in terms of severe weather across the U.S. As of March 29, the preliminary tornado count stood at 187 for the month, according to the Storm Prediction Center (SPC). The tornadoes from March 30 and any more tornadoes that may touch down on March 31 will add to this total, likely making this a record-breaking month.
Compared to previous years, March 2022 was already the third most active March for tornadoes prior to Wednesday's outbreak of severe weather. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the most active March on record since 1950, was in 2017, when 192 touched down across the U.S. The second most active March was just last year in 2021 when 191 preliminary twisters were recorded. The third most active March for tornadoes was in 1976 with 180 twisters.
The heightened tornado activity has also resulted in an unusually high number of twisters in the U.S. thus far this calendar year. Even before Wednesday, 286 tornadoes had been reported so far this year, a mark that is well ahead of the SPC 17-year mean of 216.
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