Multiple tornadoes touched down in Texas and Mississippi on Saturday, damaging homes and overturning vehicles in severe weather, killing at least two people and injuring several more.
The National Weather Service’s severe storm tracker showed the system moving east through Alabama and into Georgia just before 4 a.m., and the agency said the system was moving eastward through Alabama and into Florida, just over the Gulf of Mexico. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the northwest corner of the state due to the possibility of tornadoes.
One person was killed and four others sustained injuries not considered serious, in the Liverpool area south of Houston, said Madison Polston, a spokeswoman for the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office.
Polston said there are “multiple touchdown points” in the county between Liverpool, Hillcrest Village and Alvin. He said authorities are aware that about 10 homes have been damaged so far, but are still working to assess the extent of the damage.
(Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle, via Getty Images)
Severe weather killed one person and injured two others in the southwestern Mississippi city of Natchez, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Maralie White told CBS News in an email. She did not immediately disclose the circumstances of her death. White added that two more people were injured in neighboring Franklin County.
The National Weather Service said two tornadoes touched down near the cities of Bude and Brandon in southwestern Mississippi, knocking off the roofs of several buildings.
“These storms will probably get worse further east tonight and into the evening,” said Josh Richter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
At least six tornadoes appear to have touched down in the Houston area, Richer said, but more could be discovered as crews head out to survey the damage. He said the area saw damage from both tornadoes and straight-line winds.
In Montgomery County, just north of Houston, Chief Deputy Jason Smith told CBS News in an email that the weather caused trees and power lines to fall, damaging between 50 and 100 homes.
Smith added that at least two people were hospitalized, but there were no reports of serious injuries so far.
Fire department doors were blown out and mobile homes were damaged or destroyed in the Montgomery County communities of Katy Heights and Porter Heights, according to the weather service.
Departures at Houston’s two major airports, Bush Intercontinental and Hobby, were delayed by more than an hour on Saturday afternoon due to the storm, according to the website FlightAware.
As of Sunday morning, more than 67,000 customers were without power in Mississippi, according to power company tracking service PowerOutage.us. An additional 59,000 people were without power in Georgia and 21,000 in Louisiana.
The Mississippi Office of Emergency Management did not have an official damage report, but expected one at a later date. White said first responders focused on keeping people safe and making sure everyone was accounted for.
“We expect a more thorough damage assessment to begin in the early morning hours,” she told The Associated Press.
The National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama, issued an overnight severe thunderstorm warning for several areas in the southern part of the state and advised residents to evacuate to avoid damaging winds of up to 60 mph.
Due to severe weather, correspond to some parts The state of the United States throughout the holiday week. A series of thunderstorms developed on Thursday; ground stop at both Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field.