Four people are dead as a storm system that has produced multiple tornadoes continues to wreak havoc on the South.
Tykeria Rogers, 18, was killed in Adams County, Mississippi, when a tree fell on her home, according to Adams County Emergency Management. Another death was reported in Lowndes County, Mississippi, while one death was reported in Brazoria County, Texas. A fourth death was reported in Iredell County, North Carolina, after a tree fell on a vehicle, killing a man on Landis Highway on Sunday morning.
Saturday’s storms produced 37 preliminary tornadoes across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia, leaving structural damage in their wake.
On Sunday evening, the National Weather Service issued preliminary strength estimates for multiple tornadoes that struck Texas on Saturday. Those included a severe vortex in the Porter Heights area of Montgomery County estimated to have reached EF-3 on a strength scale of 0-5, with EF-5 being the most potent, the weather service said in a statement.
The preliminary measurement of EF-3 means the tornado likely had sustained winds of at least 136 mph.
Another preliminary EF-3 tornado sped along Highway 124 in Chambers County, the weather service said. It also noted EF-2 damage on the ground in the county, though it was unclear if this was from the same tornado.
The weather service rated a vortex that spun on the ground for nearly 9 miles in Brazoria County as a preliminary EF-2, indicating it was “strong,” with sustained winds of at least 111 mph. The weather service confirmed a fatality and said an unspecified number of people were injured and an elementary school sustained “maximum damage,” according to the statement.
Weaker tornadoes included a preliminary EF-1 and EF-0 in Galveston County, the weather service said. The first would need sustained winds of at least 86 mph; the latter, said to have touched down in Bayshore Park, needed to produce winds of at least 65 mph to make EF-0.
The stronger of the two twisters was on the ground for only 250 yards but caused “significant roof damage to a few homes,” the weather service said.
Surveys are ongoing, and preliminary ratings for other vortexes were expected to be released in the coming days.
Videos on social media showed downed trees in Bayou Chicot, Louisiana, and downed power lines and structural damage to homes in Conroe, Texas.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said more than 300 responders and 180 assets, including search and rescue teams, have been deployed to help support the state’s storm response.
“Texas state agencies are working hard to help their fellow Texans and have begun to assess the damage,” Patrick, who is acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott is out of the state, said in a statement.
On Sunday, the same storm system pushed its way east, leaving over 20 million people from the eastern Gulf Coast to the Carolinas at risk of extreme weather.
Heavy rain, damaging winds, hail and severe thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes were forecast Sunday for an area stretching from Florida to southern Virginia. Jacksonville, Florida; Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina; and Atlanta are among the cities in the risk zone.
Sunday’s storms have already produced nearly 50 mph damaging wind gusts across the Southeast.
Tornado watches from North Carolina to north Florida, including in the cities of Jacksonville; Savannah, Georgia; and Charleston, South Carolina, expired by Sunday evening, replaced by expiring tornado warnings Sunday night for parts of Pennsylvania.
The severe risk diminished Sunday as the storm front moved north and east and appeared to produce fewer severe thunderstorms. The weather service office in Lexington, Kentucky, said in its forecast that small hail and gusty winds were possible into early Monday.
A video on social media showed hail falling rapidly in Tallahassee, Florida earlier Sunday.
Thousands of utility customers across the South were without power Sunday evening, including more than 33,500 in Mississippi, more than 26,000 in West Virginia, more than 48,000 in Ohio, more than 25,000 in Pennsylvania, and more than 10,000 in Texas, according to Poweroutage.US.
The outages reflected the direction of the system that produced the weekend storms — a low pressure wave that churned winds into a cauldron of unstable air, thunderstorms, hail and rain. The unusual weather, which more often takes place when spring and fall bookend summer, is partly the result of cold air clashing with rare December warmth.
High temperatures in parts of Texas could break the 90-degree mark early in the week, the weather service said. The Southeast could see high temperatures in the 70s, even as cool air is drawn behind that tornado-sparking front, federal forecasters said.
More than 9,500 flights within, into or out of the U.S. have been delayed, and nearly 500 were canceled as of Sunday evening, according to FlightAware.com.
Earlier in the day, George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston experienced over 320 flights delayed and 100 canceled; Charlotte Douglas International Airport was subjected to over 720 flights delayed and 30 canceled; and Miami International Airport experienced more than 320 delayed and 30 canceled, according to FlightAware.com.
