Numerous tornadoes ripped through the Midwest on Wednesday evening, causing widespread destruction such as demolishing homes, knocking down powerlines, and flipping tractor-trailers on major highways.
Reports indicated that there were a minimum of 15 tornado sightings across six states, resulting in significant damage in Missouri, Michigan, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Indiana.
The most substantial damage was reported in Arkansas, where three different twisters had touched down.
The severity of the situation led to a tornado emergency declaration in the state, prompting the National Weather Service to urgently advise residents: ‘This is a life-threatening situation. Seek shelter immediately.’
Videos posted on social media showed massive tornadoes tearing across the land, leaving devastation in its wake, as several people were left trapped inside their buildings.
At least one person in Kentucky was also left in critical condition, as more than 375,000 people across the area were without power, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages across the country.
But the terrible weather is only expected to continue, with meteorologists warning that another storm system could bring ‘significant, life-threatening flash flooding’ each day through Saturday.
More than 1.4 million people were under flash flood warnings late Wednesday night, according to CNN.
The deluge could bring more than a foot of rain to the already devastated Midwest in what the National Weather Service has categorized as ‘an event that happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime.
‘Historic rainfall totals and impacts are possible,’ the service warned.
In Arkansas, debris was lifted at least 25,000 feet into the air as a tornado emergency was declared, said Chelly Amin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
‘It’s definitely going to be a really horrible situation here come sunrise in the morning in those areas, coming out of Arkansas,’ she said, noting that a tornado emergency is the weather service’s highest alert and is rarely ever issued.
As the storm ravaged outside, more than two miles of Highway 18 in Blytheville was temporarily shut down due to a downed power line.
The massive tornado was spotted by FOX Weather Storm Tracker Brandon Copic as it roared near Lake City.
‘You need to get underground,’ he warned. ‘You will not survive this tornado if you are above ground.’
The tornado emergency officially ended at 7.45pm, but Accuweather reporter Leslie Hudson noted that the danger is not yet over.
‘The sun is setting here, so now this turns into a much more dangerous situation, trying to track the severe weather as they daylight goes away,’ she said.
That was not the only tornado to hit the state, however, with another reported on the ground near Harrisburg in the late evening hours.
A third was also reported in DeWitt, according to THV-11.
In the end, there were four reported injuries in the state, CBS News reports.
Meanwhile in Missouri, several structures were damaged, cars were flipped over and power poles were snapped, according to the state emergency management agency.
Firefighters also said they responded to at least one home that was impacted by the storm.
Minor injuries were also reported as roads remained closed from storm debris and downed utility lines near the town of Potosi, southwest of St. Louis, according to the state transportation department.
Another tornado damaged buildings, overturned vehicles and tore down utility poles, tree limbs and business signs in the morning in and around the city of Nevada.
In the city, power lines were brought down and several businesses were damaged, including a hotel, and ‘several (empty) train cars were flipped onto their sides by the powerful storm,’ the state’s Emergency Management Agency wrote on social media.
As the storms hit, KFVS-TV, a Missouri-based CBS affiliate continued to broadcast as a tornado passed over the station.
‘This was a little bit intense folks,’ meteorologist Grant Dade said in the broadcast. ‘I’ve never witnessed a wedge tornado come right into the station.
Officials in the state said they were still assessing the damage into Thursday morning.
Another twister touched down in the northeastern Oklahoma city of Owasso at around 6.40am, according to the weather service in Tulsa.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, but the twister heavily damaged the roofs of homes and knocked down power lines, trees, fences and sheds.
Forecasters at the National Weather Service office in the area of Paducah, Kentucky, took cover during a warning at night.
‘We´re all good here at the office, the circulation JUST missed us to the south,’ the agency said on social media as the National Weather Service in Davenport, Iowa had to take over its operations.
Four injuries were reported in Western Kentucky by the end of Wednesday, with one person in critical condition, according to the Courier-Journal.
In Indiana, reporter Jenny Dreasler posted footage showing reporters for Fox 59 and CBS 4 Indy taking shelter inside the control room as the power flickered around them.
As the night continued, she posted video showing the city was under a tornado warning in Carmel – a suburb north of Indianapolis.
The massive storm caused a large radio tower to fall over, WISH reports.
At the same time, one person was trapped inside a Sur La Table warehouse after it partially collapsed in Brownsburg following a severe thunderstorm and possible tornado.
Police Capt. Jennifer Barrett told CNN the warehouse ‘has significant structural damage with collapse’ noting that police and fire crews were working to reach the trapped civilian.
But as daybreaks on Thursday, experts worry that heating in the afternoon will lead to another round of severe storms with multiple rounds of heavy rain expected in parts of Texas, the lower Mississippi Valley and the Ohio Valley through Saturday.
Damaging winds, large hail and tornadoes will again be possible during the afternoon and evening hours, with forecasters warning that the storms could produce dangerous flash floods capable of sweeping cars away.
The National Weather Service now warns that Wednesday is just ‘the beginning of a multiday catastrophic and potentially historic heavy rainfall event.’
Middle Tennessee is now looking at severe storms followed by four days of heavy rains as the front stalls out and sticks around through the weekend, according to NWS meteorologist Mark Rose.
‘I don´t recall ever seeing one like this, and I´ve been here 30 years,’ he said. ‘It´s not moving.’
Rainfall could reach up to more than a foot in northeastern Arkansas, the southeast corner of Missouri, western Kentucky and southern parts of Illinois and Indiana, with some areas in Kentucky and Indiana at an especially high risk for flooding.
In preparation for the storms, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order to provide $250,000 in funding from the Governor’s Disaster Response and Recovery Fund to help defray the recovery costs, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.
She also mobilized four high-water teams and more than 40 Arkansas National Guardsmen to assist local authorities in evacuating flooded areas.
Meanwhile, a smaller risk of dangerous storms could span from central Texas all the way to the Northeast.
