South and Midwest face potentially catastrophic rains and floods while reeling from tornadoes
Parts of the Midwest and South faced the possibility of torrential rains and life-threatening flash floods Friday, while many communities were still reeling from tornadoes that destroyed whole neighborhoods and killed at least seven people.
Forecasters warned of on the way, with round after round of heavy rains expected in the central U.S. through Saturday. Satellite imagery showed thunderstorms lined up like freight trains to take the same tracks over communities in Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, according to the national Weather Prediction Center in Maryland.
Torrential rain inundated highways Friday morning in Kentucky, causing numerous road closures. A mudslide on a busy highway on the outskirts of Louisville caused a long traffic backup as crews worked to clear the road.
Gov. Andy Beshear implored residents to take the threat of rising water seriously.
鈥淓specially when we have this much rain, it鈥檚 the decisions about when to get out, about what to drive through, when to go stay with someone else that can be the difference between life and death,鈥� Beshear said Thursday.
The National Weather Service鈥檚 Oklahoma-based Storm Prediction Center warned of a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms Friday along a corridor from northeast Texas through Arkansas and into southeast Missouri. That area, which has a population of about 2.3 million, could see clusters of severe thunderstorms in the late afternoon and evening, with the potential for some storms to produce strong to intense tornadoes and very large hail.
Video above: Storm Damage in Indiana
Those killed in the initial wave of storms that spawned powerful tornadoes on Wednesday and early Thursday were in Tennessee, Missouri and Indiana. They included a Tennessee man and his teen daughter whose home was destroyed, and a man whose pickup struck downed power lines in Indiana. In Missouri, Garry Moore, who was chief of the Whitewater Fire Protection District, died while likely trying to help a stranded motorist, according to Highway Patrol spokesperson Sgt. Clark Parrott.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said entire neighborhoods in the hard-hit town of Selmer were 鈥渃ompletely wiped out鈥� and said it was too early to know whether there were more deaths as searches continued. He warned people across the state to stay vigilant with more severe weather predicted.
鈥淒on鈥檛 let your guard down," he said during a Thursday evening news conference. "Don鈥檛 stop watching the weather. Don鈥檛 stop preparing yourself. Have a plan.鈥�
With flattened homes behind him, Dakota Woods described seeing the twister come through Selmer.
鈥淚 was walking down the street,鈥� Woods said Thursday. 鈥淣ext thing you know, I look up, the sky is getting black and blacker, and it鈥檚 lighting up green lights, and it鈥檚 making a formation of a twister or tornado.鈥�
Flash flood threat looms over many states
By late Thursday, extremely heavy rain was falling in parts of southeastern Missouri and western Kentucky and causing 鈥渧ery dangerous/life threatening flash flooding鈥� in some spots, according to the National Weather Service.
Heavy rains were expected to continue there and in other parts of the region in the coming days and could produce dangerous capable of sweeping away cars. The will bring 鈥渟ignificant, life-threatening flash flooding鈥� each day, the National Weather Service said.
Kentucky鈥檚 road conditions website showed scores of state roads closed by high water on Friday morning. A landslide closed a nearly 3-mile stretch of Mary Ingles Highway in northern Kentucky early Friday, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. A landslide closed the same section of road in 2019 and it reopened last year, . The Transportation Cabinet鈥檚 District 3 in southern Kentucky warned in an update Friday morning that road conditions can change rapidly, and with more rain on the way, more roads were expected to flood in the coming hours and days.
Video above: Tennessee storm damage
Water rescue teams and sandbagging operations were being staged across the region, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency was ready to distribute food, water, cots and generators.
Water rescues were already underway in flooded parts of Nashville, Tennessee, where the rain could persist for days after an unnerving period of tornado warnings that drained the batteries of some city sirens, the fire department said.
Western Kentucky prepared for record rain and flooding in places that normally do not get inundated, Gov. Andy Beshear said. At least 25 state highways were swamped, mostly in the west, according to a statement from his office Thursday.
Flash flooding is particularly worrisome in rural areas of the state where water can quickly rush off the mountains into the hollows. Less than four years ago, dozens died in flooding across eastern Kentucky.
Extreme flooding across the corridor that includes Louisville, Kentucky, and Memphis, which have major cargo hubs, could also lead to shipping and supply chain delays, said Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather.
Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong wind shear and abundant moisture streaming from the Gulf.
Tornadoes leave path of damage, and more could be coming
Under darkened skies Thursday morning, the remains of a used car dealership in Selmer stood roofless and gutted, with debris scattered across the car lot and wrapped around mangled trees. Some homes were ripped to their foundations in the Tennessee town, where three tornadoes were suspected of touching down.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol of lightning illuminating the sky as first responders scoured the ruins of a home, looking for anyone trapped.
In neighboring Arkansas, a tornado near Blytheville lofted debris at least 25,000 feet high, according to weather service meteorologist Chelly Amin. The state鈥檚 emergency management office reported damage in 22 counties from tornadoes, wind, hail and flash flooding.
The home where Danny Qualls spent his childhood but no longer lives was flattened by a tornado in northeast Arkansas.
鈥淢y husband has been extremely tearful and emotional, but he also knows that we have to do the work,鈥� Rhonda Qualls said. 鈥淗e was in shock last night, cried himself to sleep.鈥�
Workers on bulldozers cleared rubble along the highway that crosses through Lake City, where a tornado with winds of 150 mph sheared roofs off homes, collapsed brick walls and tossed cars into trees.
Mississippi's governor said at least 60 homes were damaged. And in far western Kentucky, four people were injured while taking shelter in a vehicle under a church carport, according to the emergency management office in Ballard County.