Severe storms swept through the South on Thursday, adding to the cleanup efforts following earlier destructive weather that included tornadoes, resulting in at least three deaths and critical injuries to a boy swept into a storm drain while playing in a flooded street.
Atlanta and Charlotte airports experienced delays as a heavy line of storms moved in during the morning rush hour. The Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service warned of an “enhanced risk” for severe weather spanning from Texas to South Carolina.
Reports from Vidalia, Georgia, indicated significant wind damage from a suspected tornado Thursday afternoon, an area renowned for its onion production.
These storms are part of a series of intense rainfalls and tornadoes affecting the Plains, Midwest, and now the Southeast this week. Since Monday, severe weather threats have impacted 39 states, resulting in at least four fatalities.
Matthew Elliott, a forecaster at the Storm Prediction Center, noted that over 220 million people were at risk of severe weather on Wednesday and Thursday, with some areas facing multiple days of danger.
Man picks up debris from his damaged home (Via Josh Little/Shutterstock)
April has seen a particularly stormy period in the U.S., with 300 confirmed tornadoes, the second-highest number on record for the month and the most since 2011.
As of Thursday afternoon, more than 100,000 homes and businesses in several Southern states remained without power due to storms the previous night, according to PowerOutage.us.
In Tennessee, storms damaged homes, injured individuals, and caused power outages, resulting in the death of a 22-year-old man in Claiborne County. Another fatality occurred south of Nashville in Columbia, Maury County, where a tornado with winds of 140 mph destroyed or damaged over 100 homes.
