Tornadoes touch down in the South as severe weather sweeps the nation: "All of a sudden the house was shaking"
A massive storm blowing across the country Tuesday spawned several tornadoes that wrecked buildings, injured a handful of people in Oklahoma and Texas and left two people missing in Louisiana, while much of the central United States braced for blizzard-like conditions.
An area stretching from Montana into western Nebraska and Colorado was under blizzard warnings, and the National Weather Service (NWS) said that as much as 2 feet of snow was possible in some areas of western South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska. Ice and sleet were expected in the eastern Great Plains.
Nationwide, more than 10,000 flights have been delayed or canceled since Monday, according to the tracking service FlightAware.
The Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office in Louisiana reported Tuesday night that one woman was hospitalized with unknown injuries, and two people were missing after a tornado tore through the area. The tornado downed trees and power lines, and caused damage to "several structures," the sheriff's office said.
Local firefighters and deputies were "searching through debris and the area for the missing people," the sheriff's office added.
Caddo Parish contains the city of Shreveport.
The storm system was expected to hobble the upper Midwest with ice, rain and snow for days, as well as move into the Northeast and central Appalachians with snow and freezing rain by late Wednesday, forecasters said.
"East Texas through Louisiana into Mississippi" were "risk areas" for thunderstorms Tuesday night, Weather Channel meteorologist Mike Bettes said.
On Wednesday, New Orleans, Louisiana, Gulfport, Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama, could be at risk of thunderstorms, as could Pensacola, Florida, along with the Texas Panhandle, Bettes added.
In the South, a line of thunderstorms that moved across North Texas and Oklahoma in the early morning hours brought tornadoes, damaging winds, hail and heavy rain, said NWS meteorologist Tom Bradshaw. Authorities on Tuesday reported dozens of damaged homes and businesses and several people injured in the suburbs and counties stretching north of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
At least nine tornadoes have ripped across Oklahoma and Texas. The weather service was examining about a dozen different areas across North Texas on Tuesday to determine if the damage was caused by high winds or tornadoes.
In the Fort Worth suburbs, photos sent by the North Richland Hills police department showed a home without a roof, a tree split in half, and an overturned vehicle in a parking lot. About 20 local homes and businesses were damaged, the police said. Photos shared by local officials showed a home without a roof, a tree that had been split in half and an overturned vehicle in a parking lot.
In nearby Grapevine, police spokesperson Amanda McNew reported five confirmed injuries, but no fatalities and no life-threatening injuries.
"The main thing is that we've got everyone in a safe place," McNew said just after noon local time. "And so now we're starting the process of going through the city looking at damage to property, to businesses, homes and then roads to see what needs to be closed, what we can open and how soon we can open them."
On Twitter, the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District said that students were being bussed to a local church after the tornado caused roof damage and a water leak. A natural gas odor was also detected near one of the schools in the district. Several schools lost power in the area and two elementary schools released students early because they were still without power at noon.
A tornado warning prompted the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, located near Grapevine, to issue a "shelter in place" order Tuesday morning, asking passengers to move away from windows, the airport announced via Twitter. More than 1,000 flights into and out of area airports were delayed, and over 100 were canceled, according to FlightAware.
Downed power lines also shut down parts of U.S. 69, said Troy Hudson, the emergency management coordinator in Fannin County.
There were multiple reports of damage to homes and businesses near Decatur, about 70 miles northwest of Dallas, the Wise County Office of Emergency Management said. The office of emergency management said one person was injured from flying debris while traveling in their vehicle and the other was injured when their vehicle overturned due to high winds. One person was taken to the hospital and the other was treated at the scene.
Bradshaw said it's believed to be a tornado that caused the damage south of Decatur. A woman whose Decatur-area home was damaged in the storms told CBS DFW about her experience.
"I was in the restroom and then I just heard a big old gush of air, and just complete silence, then all of a sudden the house was shaking, the electricity came off. I was just holding onto the bar in the restroom … I just heard all the windows breaking and I was just hoping they were OK," said the woman, who was not identified, and who was home with her mother and two children when the tornado hit.
Video footage shot by the station showed damaged homes and tree limbs scattered across the ground.
Meanwhile, a tornado damaged the Oklahoma town of Wayne shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday. There were no deaths or injuries due to the tornado, McClain County Sheriff's Capt. Bryan Murrell said. But authorities said there was widespread damage to Wayne, which is about 45 miles south of Oklahoma City.
"We've got multiple family structures with significant damage ... barns, power lines down," Murrell said.
National Weather Service meteorologist Doug Speheger said wind speeds reached 111-135 mph and the tornado was rated EF-2. It was likely on the ground for about two to four minutes, according to the weather service.
In parts of Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota, the National Weather Service warned that up to about half an inch of ice could form and winds could gust up to 45 mph. Power outages, tree damage, falling branches and hazardous travel conditions all threatened the region.
All of western Nebraska was under a blizzard warning from Tuesday through Thursday, and the National Weather Services said up to 20 inches of snow was expected in the northwest. Winds of more than 50 mph at times will make it impossible to see outdoors, officials said.
The Nebraska Department of Transportation closed stretches of Interstate 80 and Interstate 76 as heavy snow and high winds made travel dangerous. The Nebraska State Patrol, which was called to deal with several crashes and jackknifed semitrailers overnight, urged people to stay off the roads.
"There's essentially no one traveling right now," said Justin McCallum, a manager at the Flying J truck stop at Ogallala, Nebraska.
In Colorado, all roads were closed in the northeast quadrant of the state. The severe weather in the ranching region could also threaten livestock. Extreme winds can push livestock through fences as they follow the gale's direction, said Jim Santomaso, a northeast representative for the Colorado Cattlemen's Association.
"If this keeps up," said Santomaso, "cattle could drift miles."
In western South Dakota, a 260-mile stretch of Interstate 90 was closed Tuesday morning due to "freezing rain, heavy snow, and high winds," the state's Department of Transportation said. Interstate 29 was also expected to close and secondary highways will likely become "impassable," the department said.
Xcel Energy, one of the region's largest electric providers, had boosted staff in anticipation of power outages.
A blizzard warning has been issued on Minnesota's north shore, as some areas are expecting up to 24 inches of snow and wind gusts up to 40 mph. And in the south of the state, winds gusting up to 50 mph had reduced visibility.
NWS meteorologist Melissa Dye in the Twin Cities said this is a "long duration event" with snow, ice and rain expected to last at least through Friday night. Minnesota was expecting a lull Wednesday, followed by a second round of snow.
Wet roadways are just as dangerous when temperatures hover around freezing, Dye said.
The weather is part of the same system that dumped heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada and Western U.S. in recent days.
