Tornadoes and storms that killed at least seven people across three states to continue south
A notice from weather service in Texas described one storm as ‘extremely dangerous’
A system of tornados and storms that were said to have killed at least seven people across Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana could be set to move across the south of the country by the end of the week.
The system moved east across the Texas and Oklahoma before moving into Louisiana, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens more, The Weather Channel reported.
In Texas, three people were killed in the town of Onalaska in Polk County, and two others were killed when a tornado struck the town of Madill, Oklahoma on Wednesday, according to the report.
The outlet said one person was also said to have been critically injured in Oklahoma.
An Onalaska resident Charles Stephens told The Houston Chronicle that a woman in his neighbourhood was found dead in the reservoir Lake Livingston near his house.
“It’s a lot of devastation,” Stephens told the newspaper. “I don’t think anybody is going to be able to get [into the neighbourhood].”
Two people were also reported to have died in Louisiana after severe storms and flooding ravaged local neighbourhoods, according to The Weather Channel.
Local newspapers reported that a man in Shreveport died after falling into a flooded drainage system, while in the southeast a woman was killed as a potential tornado tore through Rapides parish, the broadcaster said.
“There was some pretty extreme flooding here in Mansfield,” DeSoto Parish Sheriff Jayson Richardson told The Shreveport Times. “Water like I’ve not seen in many, many years, if ever.”
A notice from the weather service in Texas described the storm as “extremely dangerous”, The Chronicle reported.
Social media photos of Onaslaka show levelled buildings, overturned vehicles, and debris scattered across roadways the outlet said.
Tornadoes and storms moved east across the three states, and there is fear the storms could continue to move further south.
As a result of the destruction, The Weather Channel reported that tornado warnings were issued for parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia on Thursday.
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