Tornadoes sweep Southern US; more severe weather expected along Gulf Coast
Dangerous tornadoes touched down Wednesday night across several states, and Tennessee was especially hit hard.
A twister struck Spring Hill, Tennessee, destroying homes and causing police to lock down neighborhoods.
One person died in a possible tornado in Maury County, Tennessee, and three others were hospitalized, Maury Regional Health told Scripps News Nashville.
Early Thursday morning, officials were leading a secondary search for missing people.
A line of severe weather, including some tornadoes, moved from Missouri to Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The storms dropped baseball-size hail in Missouri, and smaller golf ball-size hail pelted cars in Clarksville, Tennessee, northwest of Nashville.
Significant flooding also occurred across the region. Flash flood watches and warnings were issued for parts of Kentucky and Tennessee and will likely continue along the Gulf Coast as the storm drops heavy rain.
More storms are expected later Thursday. As of Thursday morning, parts of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi are under tornado watches. The Storm Prediction Center placed the region under an enhanced risk for severe weather for Thursday.
It has been an active period of severe weather across much of the U.S. On Tuesday, dozens of tornadoes were reported in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. A deadly tornado also struck Barnsdall, Oklahoma, on Monday, causing one fatality. The tornado that struck Barnsdall was rated an EF-4.
