By KRISTIN M. HALL and GEORGE WALKER IV Associated Press
COLUMBIA, Tenn. (AP) — A wave of dangerous storms began crashing over parts of the South on Thursday, a day after severe weather with damaging tornadoes that took the lives of at least three people in the region.
A heavy line of storms swept into Atlanta near the end of the morning rush hour. Busy hub airports in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, reported delays. The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center cited an “enhanced risk” for severe weather from Texas to South Carolina.
The storms continue a streak of torrential rains and tornadoes this week from the Plains to the Midwest and, now, the Southeast. At least four people have passed away since Monday. The weather comes on the heels of a stormy April in which the U.S. had 300 confirmed tornadoes, the second-most on record for the month and the most since 2011.
Nearly a quarter-million homes and businesses still lacked power Thursday in several Southern states after storms the night before, according to PowerOutage.us.
One in Tennessee damaged homes, injured people, toppled power lines and trees, and took the life of a 22-year-old man in a car in Claiborne County, north of Knoxville, officials said. A second person lost their life south of Nashville in Columbia, where officials said a likely tornado blew homes off their foundations.
Bob Booth had just gotten home to Columbia from Georgia and was sitting down to watch television when he heard a “crazy racket.”
“I get up and look out, and it was all heck breaking loose outside,” Booth said. “Then the top half of one of my trees goes down across the road.”
Booth said he was told it would be a while before his power was restored. One neighbor, he said, lost all trees except one that would have destroyed his house: “So that guy is blessed."
Retired pastor Walter Shell said he and his wife grabbed their two dogs and headed for the basement when his phone alerted him to a tornado.
“It missed where me and my wife were standing by about about 4 inches. It went around,” he said. “It pays to pray, I can tell you.”
Torrential rains led to a flash flood emergency and water rescues northeast of Nashville. A temporary ground stop was issued at Nashville’s main airport, and the weather service issued a tornado emergency, its highest alert level, for nearby areas.
Schools were closed Thursday in several Tennessee counties. In Georgia, some districts north of Atlanta canceled in-person classes or delayed start times because of storm damage overnight that included fallen trees on houses and vehicles around Clarkesville. No injuries were reported there.
“We’re just trying to clean up right now and wait for the next round,” said Lynn Smith, director of the Habersham County Emergency Management Agency.
A strong tornado damaged at least 20 homes in northern Alabama’s DeKalb County and caused injuries but no deaths, officials said.
In North Carolina, a state of emergency was declared Wednesday night for Gaston County, west of Charlotte, after a storm that toppled power lines and trees, including one that landed on a car. One person in the car lost their life, and another was taken to a hospital, officials said.
The storms followed heavy rain, strong winds, hail and tornadoes in parts of the central U.S. on Monday, including a twister that ripped through an Oklahoma town and took the life of one person. On Tuesday, the Midwest took the brunt of the bad weather. Tornadoes touched down in parts of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, according to the weather service.
Michigan's Kalamazoo area was hard hit as a FedEx facility was ripped apart, with downed power lines trapping about 50 people.
Tornadoes were also confirmed near Pittsburgh, in central Arkansas and in northern West Virginia. The West Virginia twister was at least the 11th tornado this year in the state, which sees two tornadoes in an average year.
Both the Plains and Midwest have been hammered by tornadoes this spring.