Deadly storms batter the South, take aim at East Coast
Deadly storms have battered the South and are expected to reach the East Coast Friday.
Multiple tornadoes were reported across Mississippi and Alabama Thursday.
In New Hope, Mississippi, at least a dozen homes have been damaged and more than 2,000 power outages were reported in the area overnight.
High winds scattered trees and power lines across roads. Emergency workers had to respond on foot.
One resident, Andrew Junkins, said when he heard the tornado sirens, he headed for his truck, but before long, he swerved off the road.
"And then all of a sudden I'm just driving. And then I'm not driving anymore. And then I'm in a ditch," Junkins recalled.
Hail as large as golf balls pelted homes, and nearly five inches of rain have washed out roads along parts of the lower Mississippi River.
Flood warnings have been issued from Louisiana to Georgia. Wet roads are being blamed for the death of at least one person in Alabama.
In northeastern Oklahoma, communities are now cleaning up after several tornadoes touched down overnight on Wednesday. The twisters damaged more than 40 miles of homes and farms. At least seven people were injured.
"That's when we felt the shaking. I was like, 'Oh my God, this is real,'" said Marisha Shelton, who took safety in her bathtub moments before the storm blew off her roof. "We stayed there and someone was like, 'You can come out. Come look at the house.' And I nearly fainted when I saw this."
The stormy, wet weather is expected to reach the East Coast Friday.