Tornadoes touched down across several southern states on Thursday, and severe weather is expected to continue as a storm system moves...
Tornadoes touched down across several southern states on Thursday, and severe weather is expected to continue as a storm system moves across the U.S. on Friday.
Tornadoes were spotted in several states, including Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, as residents described hearing and seeing the power of the twisters. One resident of Hopkins County, Texas, described being out on his patio when the tornado came through.
“Somebody said, ‘man, that train sounds loud,’” Ray Woodarski told local outlet KLTV. “And I said ‘that ain’t no train. The train noise comes from there.’ We looked up and there it was coming straight through the doggone woods like Moses was parting the Red Sea.”
He said that he and his friends ran inside once they realized the tornado was coming by, which he said had sucked up water from a nearby creek and moved his home. “And we actually felt the house lift up and move a foot, you know towards the back of the woods,” he said.
There were no reported injuries in Hopkins County, but at least 19 homes were damaged on top of damage to other buildings and fallen trees.
Shirley Carden, another resident, described the terror of hiding with her family as the tornado swept past her home.
“So about that time we heard the roaring, and sure enough here comes the tornado. And we were hanging on to the car, and the garage went flipping over. Of course, my grandbabies were crying. They were 4 and 5,” she said. “Everybody’s OK, thank the Lord.”
Thousands in Texas lost power due to the storm, with a reported 170,000 customers in the Lone Star State losing power Thursday night. Tornadoes were also spotted in Franklin County, Texas, and around Shreveport, Louisiana.
Other states, including Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia, all face severe weather throughout Friday.
In preparation for the eastward-moving storms, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed a state of emergency for the state. “Today, we are going to have a dangerous weather day. There’s a possibility of both flooding and tornadoes, and a near certainty of significant thunderstorms and dangerous wind gusts.”
He told people to “hunker down” and not to take chances. The severe weather comes as areas throughout the country, including the Upper Midwest and New England, are also expected to get heavy snowfalls in the coming days. Parts of Southern California are already in a state of emergency over snowstorms.
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