Weather

Severe storm sweeps south-east US, killing at least four


Authorities in Louisiana said at least four people have died in connection with a severe storm that is sweeping parts of the US Gulf coast and south-east.

The Bossier parish sheriff’s office said the bodies of an elderly couple were found near their demolished trailer. It brought the storm-related death toll in the state to three after a man was killed when a tree fell on his home in Caddo Parish. A search for more possible victims was under way.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a tornado warning for Mississippi early on Saturday. Homes were damaged or destroyed in Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas on Friday but no injuries were reported. Downed trees and power lines were widespread.

According to PowerOutage.us, Louisiana and Mississippi had more than 50,000 outages each. Tennessee, Texas and Arkansas all reported outages exceeding 26,000.

The national Storm Prediction Center said more than 18 million people in Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma were at an enhanced risk of storms, including from strong tornadoes, flooding rains and wind gusts that could exceed 80 mph, the speed of a category one hurricane.

The NWS said parts of Texas would be pelted with rain and snow on Saturday. The storms unleashed downpours that caused widespread flash flooding. Dallas police said one person died when a car flipped into Five Mile Creek west of downtown Dallas at 7pm on Friday.

Ahead of the storms, the Dallas Office of Emergency Management asked residents to bring in pets, outdoor furniture, grills, “and anything else that could be caught up in high winds to reduce the risk of flying debris”.

On Alabama’s Gulf coast, Baldwin county canceled school activities including sporting events for Saturday. The weather service warned of flooding and the potential for 10ft waves on beaches, where northern visitors escaping the cold are a common sight during the winter.

Many streams are at or near flood levels because of earlier storms and heavy rains could lead to flash flooding across the region, forecasters said. Parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana were under flash flood warnings or watches on Saturday.



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