NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A line of fierce thunderstorms moving across Texas was expected to raise the risk of tornadoes, hail and damaging winds across the Deep South on Tuesday.
The South Texas storms left thousands of people without power and windows broken after hail the size of golf balls damaged some buildings, but no one was injured after the bad weather Monday night, according to the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office in that state.
Now, more than 6 million people in parts of five states – Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Georgia – are in an area of moderate risk for a few strong tornadoes and other severe weather Tuesday, the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, estimated.
“This whole system is evolving quite rapidly, and we expect things to start to pick up in the next few hours,” Greg Carbin, a meteorologist at the Storm Prediction Center, said at midday. Carbin noted that a tornado warning had already been issued in Louisiana, though there were no reports of any twisters touching down.
In Arkansas, heavy rain, powerful winds and some snow were forecast for parts of the state Tuesday and Wednesday. The National Weather Service in Little Rock described the storm system as a “three-headed monster” on its Facebook page.