Severe weather kills at least one as it slams the southern half of the U.S., spawning tornadoes and leaving hundreds of homes underwater in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma
Severe weather kills at least one as it slams the southern half of the U.S., spawning tornadoes and leaving hundreds of homes underwater in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma
Severe weather killed at least one person and injured several as it trekked across the southern half of the U.S. Wednesday, spawning tornadoes and damaging storms along with flash flooding.
Extreme weather brings tornado, damaging winds and floods to Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma on May 7, 2019. via Twitter / Houston Fire Department
A multi-unit apartment building was heavily damaged in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Wednesday night amidst unconfirmed reports of a tornado in the area. Arkansas Department of Emergency Management spokesperson Melody Daniel told weather.com that several people were transported to the hospital. There was no immediate word on their condition.
Trees and power lines were also reported down in the area.
The storms were also blamed for a fire that broke out at a natural gas refinery in rural Columbia County, Arkansas, near the Louisiana border Wednesday evening. Daniel said the local emergency management officer reported that the fire was caused by a lightning strike.
“The fire is out now. There were no injuries,” she said.
A portion of US Highway 371 was reportedly closed as firefighters battled the blaze.
KSLA News 12
✔@KSLA
NEW: More pictures of that fire at a natural gas refinery plant in Columbia County, AR. (photo credit: Wendy Peterson).
As the storms marched east, a tornado warning was issued in Shreveport, Louisiana. A family of seven – two adults and five children – escaped serious injury there when a tree fell on their house, according to a report by KSLA News. A tree fell on another occupied home in Frierson, where a man told the network he barely escaped getting hit as he walked from his kitchen to the living room to watch weather reports on TV.
Earlier on Wednesday, the body of a man washed away by high water was found in Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas, the Austin-Travis County Emergency Management Service tweeted Wednesday afternoon. No further details were reported…..more here
