Four people are dead as a storm system that has produced multiple tornadoes continues to wreak havoc on the South.
Tykeria Rogers, 18, was killed in Adams County, Mississippi, when a tree fell on her home, according to Adams County Emergency Management. Another death was reported in Lowndes County, Mississippi, while one death was reported in Brazoria County, Texas. A fourth death was reported in Iredell County, North Carolina, after a tree fell on a vehicle, killing a man on Landis Highway on Sunday morning.
Saturday’s storms produced 37 preliminary tornadoes across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia, leaving structural damage in their wake. Surveys are ongoing, and official ratings are expected to start rolling in later Sunday evening.
Videos on social media shows downed trees in Bayou Chicot, Louisiana, and downed power lines and structural damage to homes in Conroe, Texas.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said more than 300 responders and 180 assets, including search and rescue teams, have been deployed to help support the state's storm response.
"Texas state agencies are working hard to help their fellow Texans and have begun to assess the damage," Patrick, who is acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott is out of the state, said in a statement.
On Sunday, the same storm system pushed its way east, leaving over 20 million people from the eastern Gulf Coast to the Carolinas at risk of extreme weather.
Heavy rain, damaging winds, hail and severe thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes are likely in an area stretching from Florida to southern Virginia. Jacksonville, Florida; Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina; and Atlanta are among the cities in the risk zone.
Sunday's storms have already produced nearly 50 mph damaging wind gusts across the Southeast.
Tornado watches are in effect from North Carolina to north Florida through 3 p.m. ET, including in the cities of Jacksonville; Savannah, Georgia; and Charleston, South Carolina.
A severe thunderstorm watch was also issued for parts of central North Carolina and eastern South Carolina, including Raleigh, Wilmington and Myrtle Beach, until 5 p.m. ET Sunday, per the weather service’s storm prediction center.
“A fast-moving line of showers and occasional thunderstorms will produce gusty winds and occasional damaging gusts through the early afternoon,” the storm prediction center said in a Sunday morning advisory. “An isolated tornado or two is also possible.”
Storms that form through Sunday afternoon will be capable of producing 70 mph wind gusts as well as small hail. The severe risk will start to diminish by Sunday evening as the strongest storms move offshore.
A video on social media shows hail falling rapidly in Tallahassee, Florida.
Thousands of utility customers across the South were without power Sunday evening, including more than 47,500 in Mississippi, 11,600 in North Carolina and 10,900 in Texas, according to Poweroutage.US.
Nearly 7,000 flights within, into or out of the U.S. have been delayed, and 388 were canceled as of Sunday evening, according to FlightAware.com. The Southern airports most affected are George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, with over 320 flights delayed and 100 canceled; Charlotte Douglas International Airport, with over 720 flights delayed and 30 canceled; and Miami International Airport, with more than 320 delayed and 30 canceled.
