Severe storms that included at least two confirmed tornadoes injured several people Wednesday, damaged homes and businesses and downed power lines in Mississippi and Tennessee after they spread damage in Arkansas, Missouri and Texas overnight before moving to the Deep South.
No deaths had been reported from the storms as of Wednesday evening, officials said.
But widespread damage was reported in the Jackson, Tennessee, area as a tornado warning was in effect. “Significant damage” occurred to the Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, a nearby nursing home and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office in Jackson, said Madison County Emergency Management Director Jason Moore.
A warehouse roof collapsed as the storms moved through Southaven, Mississippi, near Memphis, police said. The building had been evacuated and no injuries were reported.
The Mississippi Senate suspended its work as weather sirens blared during a tornado watch in downtown Jackson. Some employees took shelter in the Capitol basement.
Earlier Wednesday, a tornado that struck Springdale, Arkansas, and the adjoining town of Johnson, about 145 miles (235 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, about 4 a.m. injured seven people, two critically, said Washington County, Arkansas, Emergency Management Director John Luther. He had no additional information about them.
The National Weather Service said that tornado would be rated “at least EF-2,” which would mean wind speeds reached 111-135 mph (178-217 kph).
“Search and rescue teams have been deployed, as there are significant damages and injuries,” Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said.
In northwest Missouri, an EF-1 tornado with wind speeds around 90 mph (145 kph) struck St. Joseph on Tuesday night, according to the weather service. That tornado damaged two homes, but no injuries were reported there. Another EF-1 tornado with wind speeds around 100 mph (160 kph) touched down briefly before dawn Wednesday in a rural subdivision 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Dallas, damaging two roofs, the weather service reported.
The storms come a week after a tornado in a New Orleans-area neighborhood carved a path of destruction during the overnight hoursand killed a man.
Damage was extensive in Springdale, including to an elementary school gymnasium and a warehouse, KFSM-TV reported. The Springdale School District, which is the largest in Arkansas, canceled all classes Wednesday.
“We have some commercial buildings and residences and everything in between … with severe storm damage,” Luther said.
More than 8,000 power outages were reported in Arkansas, while outages totaled about 44,000 in Mississippi, 26,000 each in Louisiana and Alabama and 24,000 in Tennessee.
Strong winds in Louisiana overturned semitrailers, peeled the roof from a mobile home, sent a tree crashing into a home and knocked down power lines, according to weather service forecasters, who didn’t immediately confirm any tornadoes in the state.
Ahead of the storms, schools in Memphis and dozens in Mississippi closed early or conducted classes online as a precaution against having children in crowded buildings or on buses. Officials in various Mississippi counties opened safe locations for people worried about staying in their homes during the storm. And in Louisiana, officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency advised people living in temporary housing such as trailers after Hurricane Ida to be on the alert and know where to go in case they need to evacuate.
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Bleed reported from Little Rock, Ark., and Miller reported from Oklahoma City. Associated Press journalists Jay Reeves in Newnan, Ga.; Rebecca Santana in New Orleans; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Ark.; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tenn.; Margery Beck in Omaha, Neb.; and Terry Wallace in Dallas contributed to this report.