A weekend of heavy rain and deadly flash flooding continues for parts of the South and the Midwest, with 32 million people under flood alerts across the mid-South and the Southeast on Sunday.
At least 19 people have been reported killed as a result of severe weather, most of them, 10, in Tennessee. The most recent include a 57-year-old O'Fallon, Missouri, man whose car entered floodwaters and two in Jasper and Pontotoc counties in Mississippi.
On Saturday, storms produced strong winds, large hail and a few tornadoes in parts of the lower Ohio Valley and the lower to middle Mississippi valleys.
The same threats are shifting eastward Sunday into the central and southern Appalachian Mountains and the Southeast, including the region from eastern Louisiana to eastern Tennessee. The risk area includes Little Rock, Arkansas; Memphis, Tennessee; Atlanta; and Indianapolis.
Some areas of Arkansas were already in recovery mode Sunday.
"After days of severe weather and flooding, our county is finally catching its breath," the Pulaski County government said in a statement. "Cleanup efforts are in full swing."
Officials in Tennessee activated the state's "Crisis Cleanup" operations Sunday and urged the curious and drivers not to enter damaged buildings and to avoid hazards and turn back when faced with flooded roadways.
In the town of Rives, Dominic Scott went to his father's home Sunday after he was unable to contact him amid widespread flooding. He expressed relief when he saw the extent of the flooding at the residence.
"The water line is right up to the doorstep, but it hasn’t quite made it in the house as far as I know," he said. "But if it keeps raining like this, it’ll probably flood the house.”
A tornado was confirmed to have hit Jackson County in southern Mississippi on Sunday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service field office in New Orleans.
Tornado watches parts of central Alabama expired early Sunday evening, according to the weather service. Parts of Georgia were subjected to higher-level warnings, which also expired about an hour before sunset.
Flooding rivers prompted evacuations in Falmouth and Butler in north central Kentucky. Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott declared a state of emergency Sunday afternoon, warning residents to "stay out of flooded and low lying areas."
Aviation Heritage Park & Museum in Bowling Green posted video on Facebook showing part of its grounds submerged, muddy water nearly topping a crowd barrier around a military jet parked just above the surface.
In McKracken County, first responders made five swift-water rescues during the storm, officials said at a news conference Sunday. Even as flash flooding appeared to be over, as many as 10 floodgates are likely to be set up Monday, with the Ohio River expected to crest in the days ahead, they said.In Frankfort, some residents traveled by boat as flooding covered roadways and the Kentucky River continued to rise Sunday. Traffic was diverted and utilities were halted for businesses in the area, officials said.
In Arkansas, the National Guard delivered potable water to residents in Malvern after a lightning strike helped take out the town’s water supply, the guard said in a statement Sunday.
The deadly weather system was moving east Sunday, with focus on the Appalachians, central Georgia, west-central Georgia, parts of northern Florida and central Alabama, federal forecasters said. Intense downpours, thunderstorms and possible flash floods were in the forecast.
The system will continue to shift east to the southern mid-Atlantic and the Southeast into Monday, potentially bringing severe thunderstorms, damaging wind gusts and a few tornadoes, the weather service said. About 11 million people in the region are at slight risk for severe weather, including in Atlanta and Birmingham, Alabama.
The threat will linger in the Southeast into Monday, affecting 3 million people in Jacksonville and Tallahassee in Florida and in Savannah, Georgia. Strong 60 mph winds, tornadoes and quarter-sized hail will all be possible.
Behind the strong storm system, temperatures will dip 10 to 25 degrees below average from the Southern Plains to the Great Lakes. Highs Sunday were expected to range from the 40s to the 50s in the afternoon, with overnight lows in the 20s to the 40s. Freeze alerts are in effect for 27 million people Sunday night in Oklahoma City, Kansas City and St. Louis in Missouri, Indianapolis and other cities. Temperatures will generally stay below average for the eastern half of the country through Tuesday, with seasonal highs returning for the second half of the week.
Roughly 80,000 utility customers in parts of the Midwest and the South were in the dark Sunday evening, including more than 36,000 in Arkansas and more than 43,000 in Michigan, according to PowerOutage.us.
More than 4,000 flights traveling into, out of and within the United States have been delayed, and 147 had been canceled as of Sunday evening, according to FlightAware.com. Most of the delays are out of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, with almost 1,000 delays and 25 cancellations.
