Tornadoes and violent winds flattened homes and ripped apart buildings from Oklahoma to Indiana in a series of storms expected to bring record-setting rains and life-threatening flash floods across the nation’s midsection in the coming days.
At least four people in western Tennessee and Missouri were killed in the first wave on Wednesday and early Thursday that spun off powerful tornadoes, one launching debris nearly 5 miles (8 kilometers) above the ground in Arkansas.
Among those killed in Tennessee was a man in a home damaged by the storm near Moscow, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Memphis, said Ray Garcia of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office. Officials were preparing for more rain and strong storms on Thursday, he said.
“It looks like a swimming pool in my front yard,†he told The Associated Press.
Dozens of tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued from Texas to West Virginia.
Potentially was also forecast for the South and Midwest as severe thunderstorms blowing eastward become supercharged. The will bring “significant, life-threatening flash flooding†each day through Saturday, the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Weather Service said.
With more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain possible over the next four days, the prolonged deluge “is an event that happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime,†the weather service said. “Historic rainfall totals and impacts are possible.â€
Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong wind shear and abundant moisture streaming from the Gulf.
Water rescue teams were being staged across the region and the Federal Emergency Management Agency was ready to distribute food, water, cots, generators and meals.
More than 90 million people were at risk of severe weather across an area stretching from Texas to Minnesota and Maine, according to the Oklahoma-based Storm Prediction Center.
Tornadoes touch down, and more could be coming
A , the weather service's highest alert, was briefly declared around Blytheville, Arkansas, on Wednesday evening, with debris lofted at least 25,000 feet (7.6 kilometers), according to weather service meteorologist Chelly Amin.
The Arkansas Division of Emergency Management reported damage in 22 counties due to tornadoes, wind gusts, hail and flash flooding.
Volunteer firefighters and police officers in Lake City, Arkansas, searched through rubble and rescued people overnight. Residents were without electricity and some were also without water, Mayor Cameron Tate said in a Thursday morning Facebook post.
In far western Kentucky, four people were injured while taking shelter in a vehicle under a church carport, said the emergency management office in Ballard County. Multiple buildings and homes were badly damaged from what appeared to have been a tornado, the agency said.
Warehouse collapse is part of damage in Indiana
Two workers were injured on Wednesday when the roof and a wall collapsed at a Sur La Table distribution center in Brownsburg, Indiana, a company spokesperson said in a statement.
Emergency crews worked for several hours to free a trapped worker there.
“It was just heavy debris that had fallen on top of her,†Brownsburg Fire Department spokesperson Kamrick Holding told WTHR-TV. “She happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.â€
The woman was conscious and talking during the rescue. Her condition was not immediately known.
Five semitrucks were blown over on Interstate 65 near Lowell, Indiana, state police reported.
At least 10 districts in Indiana canceled or delayed in-person classes on Thursday. Indianapolis Public Schools announced a remote learning day due to power outages at multiple buildings.
A tornado touched down in the northeastern Oklahoma city of Owasso on Wednesday, according to the weather service. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but the twister heavily damaged the roofs of homes and knocked down power lines, trees, fences and sheds.
More than half a million customers in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas were without power as of Thursday morning, according to , which tracks outages nationwide.
Floods could inundate towns, sweep cars away
Additional rounds of heavy rain were expected in parts of Texas, the lower Mississippi Valley and the Ohio Valley from midweek through Saturday. Forecasters warned that they could , producing dangerous flash floods capable of sweeping cars away.
Rain totaling up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) was forecast over the next week in northeastern Arkansas, the southeast corner of Missouri, western Kentucky and southern parts of Illinois and Indiana, the weather service warned, with some areas in Kentucky and Indiana at an especially high .
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Associated Press writers Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Seth Borenstein in Washington; Isabella O'Malley in Philadelphia; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.
