Intense tornadoes have wreaked havoc in Tennessee and Mississippi, as well as other US states. The storms have damaged homes and farms in Missouri and Arkansas, and even tippled a radio tower in Indiana. Wednesday’s storms are likely to start many days of nearly nonstop rain that could in turn trigger “generational” flooding in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi, forecasters have warned, according to CNN. From Ohio to Mississippi, about 14 million people are under tornado watches.
Tornadoes have struck Slayden in Mississippi, and Grand Junction and Selmer in Tennessee, posts on X show.
“Grand Junction has been hit directly by a nightmarish wedge tornado. Debris being lofted over 20,000 ft. and now getting thrown into a massive debris field. Oh no…,” one post on X reads. Sharing that there is a storm in Slayden, one user wrote, “The NWS must be asleep, this needs to be a tornado emergency”. In another post, a video is captioned, “Here is a look at the Selmer #tornado! Insane to see another wedge happen in this historic outbreak! If you are in a warning, TAKE COVER NOW!”
Climate change is leading to extreme rainfall becoming more likely. A recent Climate Central study found that climate change has intensified hourly rainfall rates in nearly 90% of large US cities since 1970. In fact, AccuWeather has said that there could be up to four months’ worth of rain in five days along portions of a 1,000-mile-long swath in parts of the Central US. The amount of rainfall may be hard to handle for small streams and drainage systems in urban areas. In extreme cases, there could be rainfall rates of up to a few inches per hour, which can subsequently cause flash flooding.
Tornado watches in Tennessee and Mississippi
Meanwhile, the Storm Prediction Center has said tornado watches will remain in parts of northern Alabama, eastern Kentucky, northern Mississippi and central Tennessee until 6 am CT Thursday, April 3. Nearly six million people are impacted by the watch, including in Nashville, Tennessee, and Tupelo, Mississippi. Some posts claimed houses have been destroyed.
Here’s a look at some posts surfacing on X:
