Stormy weather on Tuesday is set to bring severe thunderstorms, flash flooding, potentially strong tornadoes and hurricane-force winds to the Southern Plains and several Southeastern states.
An enhanced warning covered almost all of Tennessee and Kentucky to affect 13.6 million people, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
Isolated “tennis ball-sized” hail is possible in some places and tornadoes could reach speeds of 95 mph, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center said.
A further 23 million people are under a slight risk of severe weather, from Indianapolis to Atlanta.
The storms come days after 28 people were confirmed dead following extreme weather over the weekend in the Lower Midwest and the South. More than 127,000 energy customers were without power as of Tuesday morning, including 48,000 in Missouri, according to PowerOutage.us.
According to a prelimin National Weather Service report, at least four suspected tornadoes barreled through Oklahoma and Nebraska on Monday evening. However, there have so far been no reports of injuries or deaths.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a post on X that while some storms may move through the area overnight, “the largest risk begins tomorrow in Western Kentucky at 11 a.m. CT, 12 noon ET.” He told MSNBC on Monday that a tornado that hit the city of Somerset measured either F-3 or F-4, the second-highest rating.
“Where it hit directly, there’s nothing left of the homes but a two-foot pile of rubble,” Beshear said.
Drone photography of the area showed utter devastation and barely standing homes. Trailers were being set up in a nearby park to house displaced families.
Officials said Monday that the cost to repair damage from a Friday tornado in St. Louis was estimated to be more than $1 billion.
