A front of severe thunderstorms is set to batter eastern Ohio and West Virginia on Thursday, after it demolished homes and flooded streets near New Orleans and parts of Mississippi overnight.
The storms have already killed at least one person in Mississippi, with forecasters warning of the possibility of tornadoes and hail as the front moves north. More than 100,000 people are without power in Louisiana and Mississippi, according to PowerOutage.us.
Heavy winds also toppled trees and flooded streets in Tallahassee, Fla., as well a forced a delay to the start of the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga.
One tornado struck overnight in Slidell, La., near New Orleans. Mayor Greg Cromer estimated that about 75 homes were damaged, including many with their roofs blown off and some completely destroyed, The Associated Press reported.
The weather also caused extreme flooding within New Orleans itself, as the city received a whopping 8 inches of rain.
A Mississippi woman died when a power outage caused her oxygen machine to fail, the state’s emergency management agency said.
On Wednesday, the same storm cut power to over 100,000 people in Texas and spawned an EF1 tornado in Katy, near Houston.
The storm front is forecasted to move into the northeast and mid-Atlantic by the end of the week and is expected to weaken over time.
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