At Least 3 Dead After Severe Storms, Tornadoes in Tennessee, North Carolina

A storm damaged mobile home rests in the street at Pavilion Estates mobile home park just east of Kalamazoo, Mich., on May 8, 2024. Neil Blake/The Grand Rapids Press via AP

At least three people are believed to have died after severe storms tore through parts of the United States on Tuesday and Wednesday. The storms spawned tornadoes and strong winds that knocked down power lines and trees, as well as damaged buildings.

Two people were killed in Tennessee, according to local police and officials.

They included one individual who died when a tree fell on a car, the Claiborne County Mayor said in a post on social media.

Another person died after a tornado struck near the city of Columbia in Maury County, Mayor Chaz Molder confirmed on Facebook, without providing further details.

“As the threat of tornadic activity appears to have expired for now, we know there have been a number of sightings of confirmed tornado touch-downs and resulting bodily injuries and property damage,” Mr. Molder wrote late on Wednesday.

The mayor added that the city “did appear to avoid the worst of the storm in the city limits but very close by was a different story.”

Trees and power lines were also downed across the county, the Columbia Fire and Rescue said in a social media post.

Homes were damaged, and other people were also injured during the storms in Maury County, according to Lynn Thompson, assistant director of Maury County 911.

Officials are still analyzing the extent of the damage to homes and other buildings.

Police Confirm Death in North Carolina

Another individual died in Gaston County, North Carolina, where an emergency was also declared, officials said during a press conference Wednesday.

The individual who died was not identified, nor was the exact cause of their death.

One individual was also rescued by fire department responders in the area after a tree fell on a vehicle, county officials and police said.

That individual was taken to hospital. No further details were provided regarding the individual’s condition.

More than 150,000 customers were also left without power in North Carolina and Tennessee Wednesday night, according to utility tracker PowerOutage.us.

Overall, four tornadoes were reported in Tennessee late Wednesday, along with two in Illinois, and one each in Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky, South Dakota, Missouri, and Texas, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

The agency also said tornadoes touched down in parts of Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana on Tuesday.

However, storm surveys have yet to confirm if they were indeed tornadoes.

States Under Tornado Watch

Elsewhere on Wednesday, torrential rain, hail, and tornadoes struck parts of Alabama, and Georgia, while more than 22 million people were under a tornado watch Wednesday evening across portions of Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

In Nashville, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a temporary ground stop at the International Airport and the National Weather Service to issue a tornado emergency—its highest alert level—for other nearby areas south of the state’s capital, including Chapel Hill and Eagleville.

Thunderstorms and torrential downpours also led to water rescues northeast of Nashville.

“Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order,” NWS warned when issuing a flash flood emergency.

According to NWS, the stormy weather is largely expected to continue this week with severe thunderstorms expected across parts of North Florida, South Florida, Southern Georgia, and Coastal South Carolina.

Isolated to scattered severe thunderstorms also appear possible Friday across parts of the Southeast, according to the agency, which noted that damaging winds are the main threat.

A preliminary analysis by NWS’s Storm Prediction Center suggests that April 2024 saw the second most tornadoes on record with approximately 300 reported.