Severe weather swept through the central United States from the Ohio River Valley to the Ozarks, bringing violent storms that yielded over 200 severe weather reports by late Wednesday, according to the Storm Prediction Center. Among these were 19 reports of tornadoes affecting regions across Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri. With ongoing storms, these preliminary numbers could rise.
The storm’s wrath was particularly felt in the Gage community in Kentucky, where a tornado left four people injured and multiple structures damaged. In eastern Missouri, near the town of Advance, another tornado was strong enough to destroy a home, while nearby, one fatality was reported under circumstances yet to be definitively linked to the storm.
The full extent of the tornadoes’ impact remains unclear, pending damage surveys by local National Weather Service offices. The survey process might extend over several days, particularly as some regions face the prospect of further severe weather.
In addition to the tornadoes, the storms unleashed powerful winds across nine states, leading to 117 incidents of damage. These winds felled trees, downed power lines, and caused structural damages. Specifically noteworthy were incidents where high winds caused accidents, including in Hartsburg, Illinois, where two semi-trucks were overturned on Highway 155, injuring two people.
The storms generated extraordinarily high wind gusts, recorded at 100 mph in Eaton, Indiana, and slightly less in Orland, Indiana at 98 mph. Other areas also recorded damaging gusts, contributing to the widespread impact of this weather event.
Heavy hail also accompanied the storms, with 84 hail reports, 15 of which involved hailstones larger than two inches in diameter. Significant hailstones damaged properties and vehicles, including baseball-sized hail in Ashland City, Tennessee, which broke car windshields, and similarly large hail in Sandy Springs, Mississippi, and Forrest City, Arkansas.
The system responsible for these storms is forecasted to linger, affecting many of the same regions with a predicted level 3 out of 5 risk of continued severe weather. This threat spans from the mid-Atlantic to Texas and could potentially impact up to 79 million people, with an area encompassing major cities like Little Rock and Memphis facing the highest risk.
One of the major concerns apart from tornadoes and hail is the heavy rain, which has the potential to trigger catastrophic flooding. Already, regions have recorded between 2 to 4 inches of rain, with further downpours expected to possibly cause once-in-a-generation flood conditions.
Nearly 39 million individuals are under flood watches across a broad area stretching from Ohio to Northeast Texas. If the forecast holds, the coming days could see historic rainfall totals and potentially devastating impacts. This scenario emphasizes the ongoing challenges posed by such extreme weather events and underscores the importance of preparedness and timely response by communities and emergency services.