Severe storms threatening U.S. South unleash tornadoes, kill 4 people
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Crews in Athens, Alabama, work to clean up debris blocking a street in the city on Sunday. Photo: City of Athens/Facebook
A severe storm system that's killed at least four people as it unleashed multiple tornadoes was moving into parts of the central-southern Appalachians, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast on Sunday.
The big picture: Dozens of tornadoes were reported across Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas over the weekend, causing delays and some cancelations at airports across the region during a busy weekend of holiday travel.
- Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves confirmed the deaths of one person in Adams County and another in Lowndes County from the extreme weather, along with multiple injuries as officials assessed storm damage across the state.
- Another person died in a storm-related accident on a road in Iredell County, North Carolina, and the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook that one person was killed and four others were injured in the Liverpool area south of Houston, Texas, where a suspected tornado struck on Saturday.
Zoom in: Just north of Houston, the Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said on Facebook that EF-3 tornado damaged over 300 structures and left eight to 10 people with minor injuries.
- Widespread damage was also reported in Athens, Ala., where the National Weather Service said on X Sunday preliminary information showed EF-1 tornado damage with estimated 100 mph wind speeds "with a max path width of 160 yards."
Zoom out: The Storm Prediction Center had issued a rare "moderate risk" outlook, or level 4 out of 5 on the threat scale, for parts of Mississippi and Louisiana, along with a high-end "Particularly Dangerous Situation" tornado watch for southeastern Arkansas, central and southwestern Louisiana, southwestern Mississippi and southeastern Texas on Saturday.
Between the lines: Climate change is increasing the frequency and magnitude of precipitation extremes, studies show.
- Research indicates that climate change impacts conditions in which thunderstorms form and may be leading to larger outbreaks, though fewer of them, by adding to the instability of the atmosphere while simultaneously cutting back on wind shear.
- And when both ingredients are present in enough abundance, major outbreaks can occur, Axios' senior climate reporter <br/>Andrew Freedman notes.
Go deeper: What we know about how climate change affects tornado outbreaks
