A destructive storm marched across the United States, spawning tornadoes that touched down in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, where two deaths were reported, and it delivered blizzard-like conditions to the Great Plains and threatened more severe weather Wednesday in the South.
A young boy was found dead in the Pecan Farms area of Keithville, La., where his home was destroyed Tuesday after a tornado hit about 16 kilometres from Shreveport, and his mother’s body was found nearby under debris, the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s office said early Wednesday.
First responders were searching the area, but no one else had been reported missing, the sheriff’s office said.
Five tornadoes were confirmed across north Texas as of Tuesday afternoon based on video and eyewitness reports, but potentially a dozen may have occurred, the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, Texas, reported.
Dozens of homes and businesses were damaged by the line of thunderstorms, and several people were injured in the suburbs and counties stretching north of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. More than 1,000 flights into and out of area airports were delayed, and over 100 were cancelled, according to the tracking service FlightAware.
Blizzard warnings
The severe weather threat continued into Wednesday for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.
Blizzard warnings stretched from Montana into western Nebraska and Colorado, and the National Weather Service said as much as 61 centimetres of snow was possible in some areas of western South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska. Winds of more than 80 km/h at times will make it impossible to see outdoors in Nebraska, officials said.
“There’s essentially no one traveling right now,” said Justin McCallum, a manager at the Flying J truck stop at Ogallala, Neb.
Forecasters expect the storm system to hobble the upper Midwest with ice, rain and snow for days, as well as move into the Northeast and central Appalachians. Residents from West Virginia to Vermont were told to watch out for a possible significant mix of snow, ice and sleet, and the National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch from Wednesday night through Friday afternoon, depending on the timing of the storm.
The boy found dead in Louisiana was about five or six years old, Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator said. One more injury was reported after an adult male was transported to a local hospital. The extent of injuries was unknown.
“It’s really a sad, sad situation,” Prator said.
In the Dallas suburb of Grapevine, police spokesperson Amanda McNew reported five confirmed injuries Tuesday.
A possible tornado blew the roof off the city’s service centre — a municipal facility — and left pieces of the roof hanging from powerlines, said Trent Kelley, deputy director of Grapevine Parks and Recreation.
It was also trash day, so the storm picked up and scattered garbage all over, he said.
Photos sent by the city showed downed power lines on rain-soaked streets, as well as toppled trees, damaged buildings and a semitrailer that appeared to have been tossed around a parking lot.
Threat to livestock
In Colorado, all roads were closed in the northeast quadrant of the state. The severe weather in the ranching region could also threaten livestock. Extreme winds can push livestock through fences as they follow the gale’s direction, said Jim Santomaso, a northeast representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association.
“If this keeps up,” said Santomaso, “cattle could drift miles.”
A blizzard warning has been issued on Minnesota’s north shore, as some areas are expecting up to 61 centimetres of snow and wind gusts up to 64 km/h. And in the south of the state, winds gusting up to 80 km/h had reduced visibility.
National Weather Service meteorologist Melissa Dye in the Twin Cities said this is a “long duration event” with snow, ice and rain through Friday night. Minnesota was expecting a lull Wednesday, followed by a second round of snow.