US weather: Tornadoes kill 3 as forecasters warn of wave of dangerous storms

COLUMBIA, Tenn. (AP) — Forecasters warned a wave of dangerous storms in the U.S. could march through parts of the South early Thursday, after storms a day earlier spawned damaging tornadoes and massive hail, leaving two dead in Tennessee and one dead in North Carolina.

The storms continue an outbreak of torrential rain and tornadoes that has cut across the country this week, from the Plains to the Midwest and now the southeastern U.S. At least four people have died in storms since Monday.

Amid Wednesday’s storms, the National Weather Service continued issuing tornado warnings that stretch past midnight in North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri and Kentucky. Parts of Arkansas and Mississippi were also under a tornado watch through the pre-dawn hours.

One storm that rumbled across northeastern Tennessee on Wednesday brought high winds that knocked down power lines and trees. Bob Brooks, the sheriff in Claiborne County about an hour north of Knoxville, said a 22-year-old man was in a car when he was fatally struck by one of the trees.

A home damaged by severe weather is pictured Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Columbia, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

A second person was killed in the city of Columbia in Maury County, where the National Weather Service said a likely tornado had touched down. Columbia is just south of Nashville.

Homes were damaged and people injured, according to Lynn Thompson, assistant director of Maury County 911. Thompson told The Associated Press that he could not provide any further details: “We’re getting overloaded right now.”

Rita Thompson, a spokesperson for Maury Regional Health, said the hospital had received five patients, including the person who died. Another was in serious condition and three had injuries that were not life-threatening, she said.

The storms also prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to issue a temporary ground stop at Nashville International Airport and the National Weather Service to issue a tornado emergency — its highest alert level — for other nearby areas south of the state’s capital, including Chapel Hill and Eagleville.

Meanwhile, torrential rain and thunderstorms led to water rescues northeast of