Severe tornadoes and flash floods threaten millions on Friday



CNN

A strong storm system on Friday could bring severe weather for 30 million people from the lower Mississippi Valley to the lower Ohio Valley.

The National Weather Service has declared a tornado emergency — the highest level of tornado warning — for the cities of Rolling Fork and Anguilla, Mississippi. Rolling Fork is located in the western Mississippi, about 55 miles northwest of Jackson.

“At 8:06 pm CST, a confirmed large and destructive tornado was detected over Rolling Fork moving northeast at 50 miles per hour,” the NWS alert said.

The NWS later added that “the confirmed tornado caused damage to Silver City and Rolling Fork.”

The greatest risk of major tornadoes includes more than six million people in places such as Shreveport, Louisiana; Little Rock, Arkansas; Memphis, Tennessee; and Jackson, Mississippi.

“Anyone in ArkLaTex is advised to be alert and have a shelter plan, with increased urgency, directed to locations in the immediate vicinity of the Mississippi River Valley,” the Shreveport Weather Service warned.

A tornado watch has been issued for northern Alabama and mid-Tennessee and is valid until 3 a.m. CST, according to the Storm Prediction Center. The watch covers more than three million people and includes Nashville, Tennessee, and Huntsville, Alabama.

Thunderstorms moving into a tornado watch area can produce tornadoes, heavy hail, and wind gusts up to 75 mph.

“Several strong [to] In the evening, strong tornadoes with any stable supercells are possible in this corridor,” the Storm Prediction Center said.

This is in addition to the tornado clock issued by the forecasting center. which includes east Texas, southeast Oklahoma, southwest Arkansas, and northwest Louisiana.

“Storms are expected to intensify near and ahead of the cold front in the ArcLatex region, with additional and somewhat more isolated storms possible in the late afternoon,” the forecast center said.

The watch is in effect for more than 2 million people until late Friday evening and is expected to produce hail up to 2 inches in diameter and wind gusts up to 65 mph.

“The overall severe potential, including tornado risk, is expected to increase as storms move east-northeast through the late afternoon/early evening,” the SPC added.

While the strongest storms will occur during the evening hours, any storm during the day can produce several weak tornadoes.

A tornado warning west of Dallas led to a ground stop at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport early Friday morning.

Drone footage shows the Pooleville Tabernacle, a more than 100-year-old pavilion that was destroyed by a tornado in Pooleville, Texas.

The National Weather Service says two separate EF-1 tornadoes hit Parker County, Texas on Friday morning. There was damage in the city of Pooleville, including the destruction of the Pooleville Tabernacle, a pavilion that is over 100 years old, officials said.

The storm also flipped mobile homes in Pooleville, but no major injuries were reported, according to CNN affiliate KTVT.

“I ran down the hallway, but before I could get three feet up, the whole house jerked to the side,” resident Eric Huntley said. “I cringed and started hitting all over the place like a ping-pong ball.”

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Along with the threat of tornadoes, there will be heavy rains that could lead to flash floods.

Rain is expected across much of the US from Oklahoma to West Virginia.

Nearly 19 million people are under flood clock in at least eight states in the Mid-South and Central regions.

“Dangerous flash flooding and severe weather are expected tomorrow (Friday) as heavy rains are concentrated along a slow moving cold front across the Ohio Valley as tornadoes, damaging winds and hail develop south of the border in Lower. MS Valley and the Mid-South”, The Weather Forecast Center warned Thursday afternoon.

The storm’s worst effects were over the Oklahoma-Missouri border late Thursday evening, with parts of the states receiving 1 to 3 inches of rain in areas with a flash flood warning. In the same areas, another 1 to 3 inches of rain can be expected overnight.

In addition to heavy rain, the main threat is large hail, as well as destructive winds and the possibility of tornadoes.

Flood observations extend over 1,000 miles from Oklahoma and northern Arkansas east to southern Missouri, southern Illinois, southern and central Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia. Flood watching means that conditions are favorable for a possible flood, and it is not a clear indication that a flood will occur. National Weather Service explained

A significant flood threat is expected to move from northwestern Arkansas to western Ohio during the afternoon Friday. The total number of storms is expected to be between 2 and 4 inches of rain, with the heaviest precipitation potentially exceeding 5 inches.