A violent series of storms is currently firing up across the Deep South and creating a dangerous situation for people across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.Numerous reports of serious damage have already been reported and storms are expected to continue firing up and spread north and eastward. The threat area will continue to stay in the Deep South for the time being, but is expected to soon spread to the Mid South, affecting the states of Tennessee and Kentucky. Georgia, Ohio, Indiana and other neighboring states throughout the afternoon and evening.
This is a very dangerous situation for the affected areas. It would be wise to currently overview all safety information pertaining to severe weather, even if you are not yet under a warning.
I intend to post a liveblog here, with information coming in from The Weather Channel, local emergency officials and local media in the affected areas as it pertains to warnings and damage information.
LIVE BLOG (in Central Time)
12:25 PM: Major damage reports have been coming in for the last couple of hours from La., Miss. and Ala. Reports of 30 houses flattened in Eagle Bend, Miss. A church suffered structural damage in Meehan, Miss. Houses in Meridian, Miss. reported to have structural damage. Within the last half-hour, a large powerful tornado has been marching towards Yazoo City, Miss. with a history of damage. This same stormcell damaged a chemical plant in Omega, La. with reports of people trapped and injured.
12:45: Reports now just coming out of Yazoo City, Miss. are painting an ominous picture. It seems that there has been a likely catastrophic tornado assult on the community with numerous buildings leveled. More to come...
1:40: First warnings out for Middle Tennessee. Severe thunderstorm warning out for Williamson, Rutherford, Davidson and Wilson counties for the next few minutes.
1:45: News just coming out in the last few minutes reports that the tornadic supercell that moved through Yazoo City moved on to produce serious damage in Durant, Miss. "Major damage" along Interstate 55 with cars blown off the road and trees and signs down.
3:00: Damaging storms have continued their march across Mississippi and Alabama causing serious destruction. Reports of chemical hazards at the damaged chemical complex in Omega, La. with 12 tank cars overturned and ground storage tanks damaged. Long-track tornado marched through Yazoo City creating substantial damage. The same supercell moved through Starkville, near the Mississippi State University campus and towards Columbus Air Force Base. Reports of damage are now coming in from near Columbus AFB.
5:15: Severe threat seems to have moved out of Mississippi and has moved into Alabama and into Tennessee. Three clusters of weather warnings now exist in the South and in the Mississippi River valley. The northernmost cluster holds severe warnings in Missouri, including a tornado warning near St. Louis. The southern most cluster area features a line of warnings from extreme eastern Mississippi through Alabama to the Tenn. line. The middle cluster seems to be the most volatile at the present time and holds warnings, particularly tornadic warnings, from West Tennessee up through Kentucky to the Indiana line.
5:20: Wind damage is being reported in Decatur County, Tenn.
