Four people have been killed as a storm system including multiple tornadoes centered on the South continues wreaking havoc on the region.
Two deaths were reported in Natchez and Lowndes County, Mississippi respectively, 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 Sunday morning.
Saturday’s storms produced 36 preliminary tornadoes across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, leaving structural damage in their wake.
Videos on social media shows downed trees in Bayou Chicot, Louisiana and downed power lines and structural damage to homes in Conroe, Texas.
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 are likely in an area stretching from Florida to southern Virginia. Jacksonville, Charlotte, Raleigh and Atlanta are among the cities in the risk zone.Tornado watches are in effect from North Carolina to north Florida through 3 p.m. E.T., including the cities of Jacksonville, Savannah and Charleston.
A severe thunderstorm watch was also issued for parts of central North Carolina and eastern South Carolina, including Raleigh, Wilmington and Myrtle Beach, until 5 p.m. ET Sunday, per the weather service’s storm prediction center. “A fast-moving line of showers and occasional thunderstorms will produce gusty winds and occasional damaging gusts through the early afternoon,” the storm prediction center said in a Sunday morning advisory. “An isolated tornado or two is also possible.”
Storms that form through Sunday afternoon will be capable of producing 70 mph wind gusts as well as small hail. The severe risk will start to diminish by Sunday evening as the strongest storms move offshore.
A video on social media shows hail falling rapidly in Tallahassee, Florida.
Almost 117,000 utility customers across the South are without power as of 2 p.m. E.T. Sunday, including more than 51,000 in Mississippi, 22,600 in North Carolina, 14,900 in Texas, 14,600 in Georgia and 13,000 in Florida, according to Poweroutage.US.
More than 5,800 flights within, into or out of the U.S. have been delayed, and 357 were canceled as of Sunday afternoon, according to FlightAware.com. The southern airports most affected are George Bush Intercontinental Airport, with 252 flights delayed and 98 canceled; Charlotte Douglas International Airport, with 688 flights delayed and 34 canceled; and Miami International Airport, with 288 delayed and 28 canceled.
