Tornadoes wreak havoc throughout south with at least 6 dead

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency today “in preparation for the severe and potentially damaging weather front” moving towards the state this evening.

The executive order authorized the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to mobilize resources, and will expire on Tuesday.

“This storm will hit at the worst possible time, as people are heading to or already in bed,” Kemp said in a statement. “Before they retire for the evening, I’m urging everyone to be prepared ahead of time and to remain weather aware as long as this system is in the state.”

Severe weather in the form of tornadoes and damaging winds are forecast for parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama today, according to the National Weather Service.

“There will likely be multiple waves, with thunderstorms ongoing now through the morning and another round expected by mid-morning into the afternoon,” the weather service said on X. “Damaging winds (75+ mph), large hail (2”+), and strong tornadoes (EF-2+) all appear likely.”

Cities in the risk zone include, Memphis and Nashville in Tennessee; Little Rock, Arkansas, Oxford, Mississippi and Athens, Alabama.

The storms are expected to move southwest to northeast, and the threat is will persist until 8 p.m. tonight, per the weather service.

At least four people were killed in three Texas car crashes due to high winds and low visibility caused by severe weather.

Two crashes involving multiple vehicles on Highway 60 in Parmer County killed two people, according to the Texas Department of Safety. Another fatal crash in Gray County involving multiple vehicles also killed two.

“Smoke from the wildfire was also a factor, as was the blowing dirt in that crash,” Texas DPS Sergeant Cindy Barkley said about the Gray County crash.

One person was killed when they drove into smoke from wildfires burning in Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt said today.

The fires have burned around 170,000 acres, and destroyed over 290 homes and structures, according to Stitt.

“It was just a perfect storm,” Stitt said. “It was the humidity levels went down to kind of record lows below 10%, and then with the winds where they were, it just dried everything out.”

Stitt said he lost his farmhouse, located north of Luther, central Oklahoma, to the fire.

“So really, this kind of stuff hits close to home when those fires come through, there’s just not a lot that you can do,” he said.

Residents living in the line of the fires were evacuated, Stitt said, adding that there were no reports of fatalities from homes.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has declared a state of emergency in the state after severe thunderstorms and tornadoes left destruction in their wake.

“The weather-related damage includes numerous downed power lines, creating the need for commercial vehicles to haul heavy equipment, oversized loads, transformers, necessary hardware, and other transmission and distribution equipment to line crews for the purpose of restoring power to the citizens of Arkansas,” the emergency declaration read.

The state of emergency will remain in effect until March 29.

The low pressure system affecting the southern and northern reaches of the nation’s midsection is expected to pushes eastward, promising upheaval into the eastern U.S. through the end of the weekend.

As it moves into the Eastern Seaboard on Sunday, the tornado threat will shift to Virginia and the Carolinas.

On the northern side of the front, including the upper Midwest and the northern Plains, blizzard conditions were forecast for the weekend, with 8 inches of snow possible in some regions.

The new week was expected to bring even more winter storm action, when at least two more low pressure systems march eastward, the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center said.

The first of the two would likely form a solid, counterclockwise winter storm, a process the weather service calls cyclogenesis, it said. It will likely bring snow to the interior, including the Midwest and Great Lakes, with a second storm likely to bring a fresh wave of snow, rain and thunderstorms to a stretch of the nation from the Rocky Mountains to the Upper Midwest mid- to late-week ahead of the first day of astronomical spring on Thursday.

Several states throughout the Midwest and South reported tornadoes overnight, with widespread damage and multiple fatalities reported in Missouri.

A gas station in Villa Ridge, Missouri appeared significantly damaged, with debris surrounding it, after an apparent tornado hit the area.

Almost 270,000 utility customers across the Midwest and the South are without power as severe storms are expected to continue bombarding the region with tornadoes, widespread winds and even large hail.

As of 10:20 a.m. today, over 268,660 utility customers were without power, including over 138,000 in Missouri, 42,000 in Illinois and 37,000 in Indiana, according to PowerOutages.US. Over 30,000 were without power in Texas and 19,000 in Arkansas.

At least 3 people were killed after a storm system moved through Arkansas overnight, according to the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management (ADEM).

Officials said the deaths were all in Independence County, northern Arkansas, but did not include any details regarding how they were killed. An additional 29 people were injured across eight counties, they added.

The number of victims “are preliminary and subject to change,” the division said in an update.

So far, 16 counties have reported damage to ADEM, including Independence, Clark, Hot Spring, Nevada and Fulton.

“Most counties are still assessing the full extent of the damage, but reports indicate impacts to homes, businesses and downed power lines and trees,” the division said.  

At least 10 people have been killed in Missouri as a result of severe weather that has been impacting the state since yesterday, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Six of the fatalities were in Wayne County, while two were in Ozark County, MSHP said on X. One person was killed in Butler County and another was killed in Jefferson County.

“We urge residents to stay away from debris-filled areas, watch for downed power lines, and follow regional emergency services for localized updates,” the patrol warned.

Experts say it’s not unusual to see such weather extremes in March.

“What’s unique about this one is its large size and intensity,” said Bill Bunting of the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. “And so what that is doing is producing really substantial impacts over a very large area.”

There were three fatal crashes in the Amarillo area yesterday due to high winds and low visibility, said Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Cindy Barkley. The exact number of deaths in those crashes was not immediately clear.

At least one person died and two others were injured in a crash between three semis and four other vehicles in Palmer County, said Cesar Marquez, city manager and fire chief in Bovina. It was not clear if the crash was included in the three in the Amarillo area.

There was “so much blowing dirt we were getting shocked every time we got near something,” Marquez said.

Parts of northern Texas saw gusts as strong as 62 mph, according to National Weather Service data.

The dust was not the only concern. The same system whipped up wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma on Friday as the low pressure system moved east.

The largest of the state’s six active wildfires, the Windmill Fire in Roberts County, grew from 500 to 18,000 acres in less than a day, according to Texas A&M Forest Service. The blaze was 50% contained Friday night.

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