Severe storms rumble across eastern U.S., delaying Masters Tournament

More severe storms and flash flooding will continue Thursday for parts of the U.S. after an intense line of storms whipped through multiple states with heavy rain and tornadoes, leaving extensive damage and killing at least least one person.

The weather delayed the start of the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, with the first round delayed to 10:30 a.m. Thursday.

Seven million people in the Florida Panhandle and southern Georgia, the Ohio Valley and parts of New England are under flood watches Thursday with one to two inches of rain possible, and higher amounts locally possible. 

Severe storms are possible today for 28 million people across South Carolina to central Florida, and the Ohio Valley to the Appalachians. 

The likely threat will be damaging winds across both regions, with a higher tornado threat in the northern region this afternoon and risks in metro areas of Tampa and Jacksonville, Florida, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Wednesday’s storm impact

The severe weather comes after storms rumbled through the South earlier this week into Wednesday, triggering more than 150 damaging wind reports in the past 48 hours.

The intense line of storms had traveled a continuous distance of more than 650 miles from west of Houston to south of Tallahassee. 

In Wednesday’s carnage an EF-2 tornado hit Lake Charles, Louisiana with 115-mph winds — ripping off roofs and tearing down power lines, and another EF-2 twister touched down in Port Arthur, Texas, the National Weather Service said. 

In Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves announced Wednesday that there had been one weather-related death in his state, in Scott County, and an injury in Grenada County.

Scott County Sheriff Mike Lee said 64-year-old Shirley Wilson’s death was attributed to the storm as her oxygen machine shut down when her home lost power in the storms. Her grandchild called 911 and emergency responders couldn’t reach her until about 20 minutes later and she was pronounced dead, The Associated Press reported. 

Further, 72 homes were damaged or destroyed in Grenada, Hinds, Marshall, Scott, Warren and Yazoo counties in the state, Reeves said.

In New Orleans, streets turned into rivers in the intense rain. National Weather Survey crews reported damage in Slidell and in Saint Francisville consistent with at least an EF-1 tornado Wednesday, though addition survey is needed.

Wednesday also saw flash flood emergencies.

In Kirbyville, Texas, 15 to 17 inches of rain in the area caused the Pin Oak Creek to rise 10 feet in less than 6 hours, triggering a disaster declaration for Jasper County as the Jasper County sheriff’s office said the city was “under water” Wednesday. 

In New Orleans, 5.95 inches of rain fell in less than six hours and storm totals for Wednesday was a record 6.24 inches meanwhile Tallahassee clocked seven inches in eight hours. Both cities picked up more than their average monthly rainfall in mere hours.

Tonight’s forecast

The National Weather Service in Tallahassee already warned of a flash flood emergency early Thursday saying: “Many impassable roads across the city and water entering homes. Please stay put and don’t drive through flooded roads!”

As of 9 a.m., nearly 150,000 people were without power across the country, with more than 68,000 out in Louisiana, over 28,000 out in Mississippi, 27,000 out in Georgia and 13,000 out in South Carolina, according to PowerOutage.us.

Rounds of heavy rain and the occasional rumble of thunder will impact the Great Lakes, interior northeast and the I-95 corridor from D.C. to Boston Thursday night into Friday.

Strong winds will also accompany the deluge with some peak wind gusts forecast through Friday being 36 mph winds in Atlanta, 40 mph in Chicago, 43 mph in Detroit, 40 mph in Boston, and 39 mph in New York.