1 of 2 | Homes and structures were damaged after a tornado touched down near Potosi, Missouri, on Wednesday. Photo courtesy Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop C
April 2 (UPI) — Tornadoes on Wednesday struck the central United States, including damaging property in Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana and Oklahoma, with torrential rain spurring flash flooding.
Tornado watches affecting 17 million people were in effect for Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee until at least midnight CDT, CNN reported. In a watch, forecasters have high confidence of large, destructive tornadoes.
More than 1.4 million people were under a flash flood warning in those states.
Multiple days of rain could trigger “generational” flooding in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi, forecasters warned.
Nearly 400,000 people were without power, according to Poweroutage.us.
Flights also were affected, including at two major hubs, according to FlightAware. At Chicago O’Hare International Airport, there were 448 cancellations and 13,07 delays through 9:30 p.m. CDT and at Dallas-Forth International with 115 cancellations and 1,146 delays.
Near Potosi, Mo., about 72 miles southwest of St. Louis, a tornado destroyed homes and structures, according to troopers. No deaths were reported and there were some minor injuries. Cars were overturned.
On Wednesday morning, a tornado knocked over eight train cars, damaged the roofs of several houses and inflicted “varying degrees of damage” to businesses in the Springfield area, the NWS said in a post on X. No injuries were reported, the post said.
The EF-1 tornado traveled 17 miles in 12 minutes, NWS said.
Accuweather.com reported at least one person was injured after a suspected tornado tracked through Stoddard County, Mo., in the southeastern corner of the state, according to the Storm Prediction Center 219 miles from Springfield.
Tornado warnings spanned more than 70 miles in the St. Louis area.
Workers at KFVS-TV in Girardeau, Mo., sheltered in place as the station reported from a baseball.
In Ballard County, Ky., four people taking shelter in a van were injured near a tornado-hit church, the local emergency management office said in a Facebook post.
“The church suffered a direct hit from debris, causing severe structural damage. All four individuals were transported to a local hospital, three with non-life-threatening injuries and one in critical condition,” according to the Facebook post.
In Paducah, Ky., forecasters with the National Weather Service Office had to shelter in place as a likely tornado passed just to the west. The NWS in Davenport, Iowa, temporarily took over their duties.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency through Sunday — especially for the westernmost communities in the commonwealth that are located along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.
“Tornadoes are expected, and I know that’s tough to hear,” Beshear said Wednesday in an online announcement.
“These can be strong tornadoes, EF2 and greater,” he added. “We’re really concerned about people’s safety, especially overnight, because when storms or tornadoes hit while people are asleep, that’s when we’ve lost the most people.”
In Carmel, Ind. a tornado toppled a large radio tower and ripped the front off a building, according to CNN affiliate WISH-TV. Trees were uprooted from the saturated ground.
Abot 30 miles away in Brownsburg, Ind., a Sur la Table warehouse partially collapsed after a severe thunderstorm and possible tornado. Three people were rescued, and one woman was taken to a trauma hospital in downtown Indianapolis.
In Craighead, Ark., heavy damage, including to homes, was reported after a tornado, according to county administrator Brandon Shrader.
That included five houses and one power line down in Lake City, Mayor Cameron Tate told CNN. No injuries were immediately reported.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency on Wednesday before the storms.
In Owasso, Okla., outside of Tulsa, damage was reported from an EF1 tornado in two neighborhoods, including roofs torn off. Winds were estimated around 100 to 110 mph, the National Weather Service said.
As many as 32 million people are forecast to be affected by bad weather through Sunday from Dallas to Cleveland.
The Mississippi Valley is especially vulnerable with severe weather warnings as storms traveling about 60 mph move from the Great Plains through the Mississippi Valley and into the Upper Midwest over the next several days, according to the NWS Storm Prediction Center.
The flood threat is even worse along the Mississippi Valley, which is at a high risk of severe thunderstorms accompanied by high winds.
High-risk weather warnings are reserved for when weather conditions make forecasters confident dangerous storms are likely to occur, CNN reported.
High-risk warnings of dangerous weather typically are issued about 1% of the time, but it’s the second such warning since the start of March.
The potential for torrential rains, high winds, flooding and tornadoes has spurred preventive actions in several states.
In Pittsburgh, a batch of strong thunderstorms hit Wednesday afternoon with hail between 1 and 1.5 inches in diameter.
Farther south in Tennessee, the NWS was predicting up to 10 inches of rainfall through Sunday in the greater Nashville area and widespread severe thunderstorms in Memphis starting Wednesday night.