A series of severe storms swept through the U.S. South early Thursday, following a day of destructive tornadoes and large hail that claimed at least three lives in the region.
Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, experienced delays as a heavy line of storms hit during the morning rush hour. Tornado warnings were issued for parts of Tennessee and Alabama. These storms add to the week's pattern of heavy rains and tornadoes across the Plains, Midwest, and now the Southeast, resulting in at least four deaths since Monday.
The weather follows a stormy April, with the U.S. experiencing 300 confirmed tornadoes, the second-highest for the month and the most since 2011. More than a quarter-million customers were without power in North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri, according to PowerOutage.us.
In northeastern Tennessee, a storm on Wednesday damaged homes, injured people, toppled power lines and trees, and claimed the life of a 22-year-old man in Claiborne County. South of Nashville in Columbia, a second person was killed as a tornado likely touched down, blowing homes off their foundations.
Bob Booth, a resident of Columbia, recounted the suddenness of the storm's arrival, saying, “I get up and look out, and it was all hell breaking loose outside.” Schools were closed in several Tennessee counties, and some districts north of Atlanta canceled or delayed in-person classes due to storm damage overnight.
Torrential rains led to a flash flood emergency and water rescues northeast of Nashville. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a temporary ground stop at Nashville’s main airport, and a tornado emergency, the highest alert level, was issued for nearby areas.
In North Carolina, a state of emergency was declared for Gaston County after a storm toppled power lines and trees, including one that landed on a car, resulting in one fatality and another person being hospitalized.
The storms follow severe weather in the central U.S. on Monday, including a tornado in Oklahoma that killed one person. On Tuesday, the Midwest experienced tornadoes in parts of Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, with Michigan's Kalamazoo area particularly affected, including a FedEx facility being torn apart and about 50 people being trapped by downed power lines.