Wednesday, November 30th

Tornadoes wrecking homes around South fueled by record highs

By KIM CHANDLER and JEFF MARTIN Associated Press

Sagewood Appartments at 940 West End Street, saw major damage from Tuesday night's severe weather, with the roof of one building torn off and much the second level destroyed, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, in Eutaw, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

WETUMPKA, Ala. (AP) - Tornadoes damaged numerous homes, destroyed a fire station, briefly trapped people in a grocery store and ripped the roof off an apartment complex in Mississippi, while two people died as a tree crunched their mobile home in Alabama, authorities said Wednesday.

The National Weather Service had warned that strong twisters capable of carving up communities over long distances were possible as the storm front moved eastward from Texas. They were fueled by record high temperatures and threatened a stretch of the United States where more than 25 million people live.

The "threat for supercells capable of all severe hazards continues" near the Gulf Coast in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Georgia, forecasters said. A total of 73 tornado warnings and 120 severe thunderstorm warnings were issued from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning, said Matthew Elliott, a meteorologist at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

Two people were killed in the Flatwood community just north of the city of Montgomery. "They were in their home that was struck by a tree due to the tornado," said Christina Thornton, director of the Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency.

Thornton said others in the area were injured, and search-and-rescue crews were able to check all the houses in the area by Wednesday morning. The sheriff's office said a shelter was being opened at a nearby church for the affected residents.

National Weather Service members survey damage, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, in Flatwood, Ala., following a severe storm the day before. Two people were killed in the Flatwood community just north of the city of Montgomery. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Sagewood Apartments are damaged from Tuesday night's severe weather, with the roof of one building torn off and much the second level destroyed, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, in Eutaw, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

In the west Alabama town of Eutaw, video from WBMA-TV from showed large sections of the roof missing from an apartment complex, displacing 15 families in the middle of the night.

"We've got power lines, trees just all over the road," Eutaw Police Chief Tommy Johnson told WBRC-TV. "In the morning when we get a little daylight, we're going to do a door-by-door search to make sure no one is trapped inside or anything like that."

A suspected tornado damaged numerous homes during the night in Hale County, Alabama, where the emergency director said more than a third of the people live in highly vulnerable mobile homes.

"I have seen some really nice mobile homes tied down, but they just don't stand a chance against a tornado," Hale County Emergency Management Director Russell Weeden told WBRC just ahead of the storm.

Two other people were injured as the storm tore apart homes in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, Sheriff Clay Bennett told KNOE-TV.

Wes Garner's residence is damaged by fallen trees which also destroyed his shed and caused a gas leak following from Tuesday night's severe weather, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, in Eutaw, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

The weather service confirmed that tornadoes hit the ground in Mississippi. Images of the wreckage in Caledonia showed a grocery store damaged, a fire station shredded and a house toppled, but Lowndes County Emergency Management Agency Director Cindy Lawrence told WTVA-TV that everyone escaped injury.

Hail stones crashed against the windows of City Hall in the small town of Tchula, Mississippi, where sirens blared and the mayor and other residents took cover. "It was hitting against the window, and you could tell that it was nice-sized balls of it," Mayor Ann Polk said after the storm passed.

High winds downed power lines, and flooding was a hazard as more than 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain fell within several hours in some places. More than 50,000 customers in Mississippi and Alabama were without electricity Wednesday morning, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility outages.

Forecasters had been warning of the potential for a tornado outbreak for several days ahead of the storm. Elliott, who coordinates the warnings, said it took a lot of work to get the word out as people celebrated the holidays, and it seemed that people were taking the threat seriously.

"It's a very vulnerable part of the country for tornadoes -- especially tornadoes after dark," Elliott said. "We all have to work together to get the best results on these types of events that could potentially lead to lots of devastation."

Record high temperatures in Texas and Louisiana intensified the storm front before it moved into Mississippi and Alabama, forecasters said Wednesday.

Shreveport, Louisiana heated up to 81 degrees (27.2 Celsius) on Tuesday; and Tyler, Texas hit 82 degrees (27.8 Celsius), according to the National Weather Service in Shreveport. Both those marks broke the old record of 80, set in 1949, the weather service said.

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Jeff Martin and Michael Warren in Atlanta, Jill Bleed in Little Rock, Arkansas; Michael Goldberg in Jackson, Mississippi; and Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, contributed to this report.

Jefferey Jordan sits in front of his damaged home, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, in Flatwood, Ala., following a severe storm. Two people were killed in the Flatwood community just north of the city of Montgomery. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Lightning brightens the evening sky in Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. Area residents were provided a light show as severe weather accompanied by some potential twisters affected parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

A vehicle races along a Jackson, Miss., street as lightning streaks across the sky, Tuesday evening, Nov. 29, 2022. Area residents were provided a light show as severe weather accompanied by some potential twisters affected parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

This photo provided by Craig Ceecee shows a tornado shelter opened by the Oktibbeha County Emergency Management agency on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, in Starkville, Miss. Ceecee, a meteorologist at Mississippi State University, said the shelter is located in a dome-shaped multipurpose facility capable of withstanding 250 mph winds. (Craig Ceecee via AP)

Winter clouds hover the East Harbor of Pass Christian, Miss., on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, before a winter storm. (Hunter Dawkins/The Gazebo Gazette via AP)

A tractor cleans Harrison County Beaches in Pass Christian, Miss., before a winter storm comes on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. (Hunter Dawkins/The Gazebo Gazette via AP)

A mother snow monkey holds her baby while hunkering down with other snow monkeys during a snowstorm Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, Minn. They are native to three of Japan's four main islands. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP)

A snow plow pushes fresh snow from McAndrews Rd. on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, in Apple Valley, Minn. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP)

Colleen Somerville and her canine companion Cosmo play with an enormous stick at the Fish Lake Park Reserve dog park in Maple Grove, Minn., on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. Cosmo is a Carolina Dog, which Somerville says is a "polite way of saying American dingo." Somerville chose Cosmo through All Dogs Rescue. The heaviest snowfall since December 2021, was expected to dump on the Twin Cities. (Shari L. Gross/Star Tribune via AP)

People walk through an area of destoryed structures in Flatwood, Ala. on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. Tornadoes damaged numerous homes, destroyed a fire station, briefly trapped people in a grocery store and ripped the roof off an apartment complex in Mississippi and Alabama. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

A damaged mobile home where two people died is seen, in Flatwood, Ala. on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. Tornadoes damaged numerous homes, destroyed a fire station, briefly trapped people in a grocery store and ripped the roof off an apartment complex in Mississippi and Alabama. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

The Flatwood community center is seen damaged, in Flatwood, Ala. on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. Tornadoes damaged numerous homes, destroyed a fire station, briefly trapped people in a grocery store and ripped the roof off an apartment complex in Mississippi and Alabama. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Part of Patti Beeker's house is damaged as a result of severe weather in the area, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, in Eutaw, Ala. She woke her husband Steve just before a tree hit their house. Beeker quipped that she had been looking to renovate her kitchen, but not like this. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

Sagewood Apartments is damaged from Tuesday night's severe weather, with the roof of one building torn off and much the second level destroyed, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, in Eutaw, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

Utility workers repair power lines in the aftermath from Tuesday's severe weather, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, in Eutaw, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

Friends and family pray outside a damaged mobile home, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, in Flatwood, Ala., the day after a severe storm swept through the area. Two people were killed in the Flatwood community just north of the city of Montgomery. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Cinder blocks from the Flatwood Community Center are strewn about Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, in Flatwood, Ala., following a severe storm. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Montgomery, Ala., Mayor Steven Reed, left, speaks hands with Jefferey Jordan, right, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, in Flatwood, Ala., who had damage to his home from a severe storm. Two people were killed in the Flatwood community just north of the city of Montgomery. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Family members console each other outside a damaged mobile home, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, in Flatwood, Ala., the day after a severe storm swept through the area. Two people were killed in the Flatwood community just north of the city of Montgomery. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

A fallen tree damaged Ezekiel Baptist Church on West End Street, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, in Eutaw, Ala., following a severe storm the day before. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

Friends and family survey damage to a house from a possible tornado Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, in Flatwood, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Police block off roads as cleanup begins on debris from a possible tornado that left two dead Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, in Flatwood, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)