A storm system that has caused numerous tornadoes has devastated the South, killing four people.
According to Adams County Emergency Management, Tykeria Rogers, 18, was killed in Adams County, Mississippi, when a tree collapsed on her house. Lowndes County reported another fatality.
Brazoria County, Texas, reported one death. On Sunday morning, a man was killed on Landis Highway in Iredell County, North Carolina, when a tree fell on a car. This was the fourth documented incident.
Confirmed tornadoes
Over two dozen tornadoes, both preliminary and verified, were spawned by Saturday’s storms throughout Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, causing substantial damage in their wake.
The National Weather Service released initial strength estimates for several tornadoes that made landfall in Texas on Saturday night. The weather service said in a statement that one of them was a severe vortex that was believed to have reached EF3 on a severity scale of 0-5, with EF5 being the strongest, in the Porter Heights region of Montgomery County.
The tornado most likely had sustained speeds of at least 136 mph, according to the preliminary EF3 measurement.
The meteorological service reported that another preliminary EF3 tornado drove along Chambers County’s Highway 124. Although it was uncertain if it came from the same tornado, it also reported EF2 damage on the ground in the county.
When a vortex whirled around the ground for about nine miles in Brazoria County, the meteorological service classified it as a preliminary EF2, meaning it was “strong,” with sustained winds of at least 111 mph. According to the weather service, an elementary school suffered “maximum damage,” an undetermined number of people were hurt, and a death was confirmed.
According to the meteorological service, Galveston County had weaker tornadoes, including an EF0 and a preliminary EF1. The latter, which is reported to have landed near Bayshore Park, required winds of at least 65 mph to reach EF0, while the first would require continuous winds of at least 86 mph.
Despite barely being on the ground for 250 yards, the stronger of the two twisters inflicted “significant roof damage to a few homes,” according to the weather service.
Preliminary ratings for other vortexes were anticipated to be published in the next few days, and surveys are still in progress.
The National Weather Service said that another EF1 tornado has been verified in Lamar County, Alabama. In Shelby, St. Clair, Lowndes, Montgomery, and Macon counties, more storm surveys will take place on Monday.
Widespread damage
Social media videos showed homes in Conroe, Texas, with structural damage and downed power lines, and trees in Bayou Chicot, Louisiana.
More than 300 responders and 180 resources, including search-and-rescue teams, have been sent in to assist the state’s storm response, according to Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Patrick, the state’s acting governor while Governor Greg Abbott is out of town, stated in a statement that “Texas state agencies are working hard to help their fellow Texans and have begun to assess the damage.”
Severe threat diminishes
More than 20 million people from the eastern Gulf Coast to the Carolinas are at risk of severe weather as the storm system moved eastward on Sunday.
As the storm front moved east and north, it seemed to produce fewer severe thunderstorms, reducing the severe risk. In its forecast, the Lexington, Kentucky, weather service office warned of the possibility of small hail and gusty gusts through early Monday.
As of Sunday evening, FlightAware.com reports that about 500 flights were canceled and over 10,200 flights into or out of the United States were delayed.
Cold air clashing with uncommon December warmth is part of the extraordinary weather weekend, which often occurs when spring and fall bookend summer.
According to the weather service, high temperatures in certain areas of Texas might reach 90 degrees early this week. As chilly air is pulled behind the tornado-sparking front, the Southeast may see highs in the 70s, according to official forecasters.
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