Severe Weather Causes Damage Across 4 US States

By VOA News

The U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) said another outbreak of severe storms and tornadoes is possible on Thursday, after storms left damage across four South Central U.S. states Wednesday. 

The NWS Storm Prediction Center received 129 reports of severe weather by late Wednesday, including 21 tornadoes, some of which led to severe damage of homes and businesses in Alabama and Mississippi.

The weather service said damage from severe weather was reported in Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama. Baseball-size hail stones were reported near the Alabama-Mississippi state line.

Forecasters Wednesday issued warnings and watches for severe storms from northern Texas to northern Illinois, and as far east as the Carolinas. 

The NWS issued more than 50 tornado warnings — meaning tornados were confirmed to exist — in Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma. Tornado watches, in which conditions for tornados were possible, included parts of seven states.

Though diminished from Wednesday, NWS forecasters said they expect to continue seeing severe weather with the possibility of tornados, scattered damaging winds and isolated large hail in southeastern North and South Carolina, with more widely scattered storms from southern Virginia to North Florida.