Severe storms hit large swath of U.S.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. --The nation's midsection was preparing for another day of foul weather Wednesday after a series of storms brought huge hail, high winds, flooding and tornadoes Tuesday, though not as many as had been feared.
The Nation Weather Service Storm Prediction Center said 60 million people from the Gulf Coast to the Midwest east to North Carolina and Virginia should be on the alert for strong storms. The nastiest weather is predicted for an area from Houston north into part of Iowa.
"This type of environment will support supercells capable of all hazards, although large hail appears to be the primary severe threat," forecasters said Tuesday, looking ahead to Wednesday's weather.
Hail as big as grapefruit fell in northern Kansas on Tuesday, while winds approaching hurricane force - 74 mph - raked communities from Nebraska and Missouri to Texas. Uprooted trees, downed power lines and roof damage were reported in parts of Texas and Oklahoma.
A storm that cleared Oklahoma City around sunset may have dropped a tornado or two during a 90-mile march to Tulsa. Power was knocked out to thousands.
Early Wednesday, officials said a possible tornado hit downtown Chectoa, Oklahoma with 70-80 mph winds, reports CBS Tulsa affiliate KOTV.
Several areas of Texas were hit with severe weather events Tuesday. CBS affiliate KHOU reports sheriff's deputies have confirmed that a woman was killed in the Tomball area after a strong squall line of storms toppled trees damaging her home early Wednesday morning. The Harris County Sheriff's Officer says she was killed in her home by a falling tree.
One and possibly as many as three tornados tore through Grayson County, Texas Tuesday night, flipping semis, damaging homes and sending at least five people to the hospital, CBS Dallas reports.
One woman suffered serious injuries in Howe after a twister uprooted a tree, which then struck her car along US Highway 75, authorities said.
"We have several houses that have damage," Howe Police Chief Carl Hudman told the station. "We have a metal storage building company on the east side that was hit and destroyed."
But there was a cute side to the storms there:
Heavy winds left damaged schools, trees and debris in Fort Smith, Arkansas, says the CBS affiliate there, KFSM-TV.
Forecasters said last week that the nation could have seen significant tornadoes Tuesday, but conditions weren't right for the biggest storms.
Still, the hail and high winds were frightening enough.
Hail 4 inches in diameter fell northwest of Marysville, Kansas, and residents of Topeka, Kansas eyed the sky nervously during rush hour after forecasters warned that a supercell thunderstorm could produce a tornado at any moment.
A rope tornado brushed fields south of Wichita, Kansas, and another small twister touched down in southwestern Indiana.
Heavy rain in Deshler, Nebraska led to flooding that forced the evacuation of a nursing home and assisted living facility, reports CBS Lincoln affiliate KOLN-TV.
Beginning last Thursday, forecasters said a severe weather outbreak was possible Tuesday and that unsettled weather could bring storms much of the rest of the week. That forecast has held.
The core of the bad weather worries shifts back to Oklahoma and Texas on Thursday and Friday, then Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas on Saturday.
Ahead of Tuesday's storms, as a precaution, some Oklahoma school districts either shuttered schools for the day or sent students home early, hoping they would remain safe.
In Fairview, George Eischen, 51, spent the morning moving Chevies into his shop and showroom to protect them from hail - "the real enemy of the car dealer."
Workers at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, Missouri, did something similar with airplanes when the skies turned a "mean green" ahead of a line of storms.
"We were able to get most of the airplanes into hangars," aviation director John Bales said.