At least 19 people are reported to have died after severe weather, including tornadoes, heavy rain, and flooding, continued to hit parts of the US over the weekend.
Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, put the total number of deaths at 19, including 10 in Tennessee, where a 57-year-old man’s car went into floodwaters, and two in Mississippi.
Some cities ordered people to leave their homes, while rescue crews have been using inflatable boats to check on residents in Kentucky and Tennessee.
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Dawson Springs, Kentucky. Pic: Reuters
Power and gas have been cut off in parts of a region stretching from Texas to Ohio.
Nonstop rain has seen the Kentucky River crest above 49 feet in the state capital, Frankfort, two feet below the maximum the city’s flood wall is designed for.
A nine-year-old boy was one of the reported deaths in Kentucky, after he was caught up in floodwaters while walking to catch his school bus.
In Arkansas, a five-year-old boy died after a tree fell on his family’s home, police said, while a 16-year-old volunteer Missouri firefighter died in a crash while trying to rescue people caught in the storm.
A mandatory evacuation was issued for two towns, Falmouth and Butler, near the bend of the rising Licking River, which rose to 50 feet (15 meters) in 1995, leading to five deaths and 1,000 homes being destroyed.
Flooding in Frankfort, Kentucky. Pic: Reuters
Flooding in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. Pic: Reuters
A series of storms, brought on by warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong winds, and large amounts of moisture arriving from the Gulf, began to crash into the south and parts of the midwest last week.
By Sunday, more than 90 tornadoes had been reported in at least 10 states, from Kansas to Ohio, ABC News reported.
More than five inches (13cm) of rain fell on Saturday in Jonesboro, Arkansas, setting a new April record in the city.
In Tennessee, 14 inches (35cm) of rain fell on Memphis from Wednesday to Sunday, NWS said.
Rives, a northwestern Tennessee town of about 200 people, was almost entirely underwater after the Obion River overflowed.
In nearby Dyersburg, dozens of people arrived over the weekend at a storm shelter carrying essentials, including blankets and pillows.
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It came days after the city was hit by a tornado that caused millions of dollars in damage.
Dozens of locations in multiple states could see extensive flooding of structures, roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned on Sunday.
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama could see more flooding from torrential rains, while tornadoes are possible in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, NWS said.
Numerous flood and flash flood warnings remained in place on the NWS website.
