Storm damage has been reported in the southern United States, as a severe weather system has brought about extensive floods and tornadoes.
The National Weather Service (NWS) reported that a large portion of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana was impacted.
As the system has advanced eastward, storm and flash flood advisories have expanded to include portions of Georgia and Florida.
Scott County, Mississippi, which is located around 200 miles (320 km) north of New Orleans, has previously recorded one fatality. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency provided no other information on Tuesday’s event or the cause of death.
It was reported that another individual sustained injuries.
According to monitoring site PowerOutage.us, more than 200,000 people in the area were without power at one point on Wednesday due to the extreme weather. That figure gradually decreased.
Several suspected tornadoes wreaked havoc throughout the Gulf Coast, and the New Orleans area saw flash flooding as almost a month’s worth of rain fell in hours.
Slidell, Louisiana, police reported a suspected tornado that wounded at least ten individuals and sent them to the hospital.
While one municipal official spoke of “catastrophic” destruction, police stated they had rescued about 50 individuals.
Another verified twister struck Lake Charles, Louisiana. There were no casualties reported. However, homes were destroyed.
Tornado watches were in effect for portions of southeast Georgia, Florida, and Alabama as the storm front advanced eastward throughout the day. Multiple areas of Florida were under flash flood warnings issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) by Thursday morning.
Severe weather was delivered to Texas earlier by the same storm system; on Tuesday night, another tornado touched down outside of Houston.
Rescue efforts are continuing in south-eastern Texas, where floods have stopped roads and forced evacuations, CBS News and local sources reported.
By Thursday morning, several flash flood advisories issued by the NWS covered more eastern regions, including various sections of Florida.
The golf Masters, which were supposed to begin at Augusta National in Georgia, was postponed due to thunderstorms, adding to the list of affected sports.
After “heavy rainfall and wind gusts of 40-45mph” forced a delay “until further notice” of the first tee shots, which were supposed to be hit at 08:00 local time (13:00 BST).
