There were multiple tornadoes in the southern and midwest areas Wednesday, a powerful storm that is expected to linger in the area for several days.
Officials said Kentucky, Arkansas and Missouri were reportedly injured, including a critically ill child, who was rescued from a collapsed warehouse in Indiana. The tornado knocked down trees, destroyed power, and damaged houses and businesses.
Earlier Thursday, the tornado watch and warning were just in a diagonal line, hundreds of miles northeast of Illinois. Some of these warnings were issued near Memphis, Louisville and Nashville.
Earlier Thursday, more than 300,000 customers had no electricity in Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. More than half are in Indiana.
Thousands of people are also receiving flood watches and warnings from Texas to Michigan.
According to the National Weather Service, 18 tornadoes have been reported in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri since Wednesday morning. Nine are in Missouri.
As of 3 a.m. east, here is a snapshot of storm activity and damage:
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exist ArkansasThe Ministry of Emergency Management said it had received reports of local tornadoes. Officials said four people were reportedly injured in Craighead County, and 22 counties in the state reported storm damage to homes, trees, power lines and roads.
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exist Indiana, Emergency workers released a woman trapped after the table of kitchenware Sur in Brownsburg town fell, local officials said.
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exist KentuckyTravis Holder, director of the county’s emergency management office, said four people were injured in a tornado in Ballard County, one of the boys in critical condition. The agency said on social media that the tornado also narrowly missed the Weather Bureau office in Padica City, phased out its main power supply.
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exist MissouriCity manager Gary Edwards said the losses of Nevada tornado were widespread and there was a report of injury. According to the Missouri Highway Patrol, there was one death in Cape Girardeau, although it is not clear whether it is related to the storm. According to the Weather Bureau, a tornado has been reported in the area.
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exist Tennesseethe Weather Bureau reported that several tornadoes were landing.
The storm system originated on the West Coast together in the week and stirred on the plains on Tuesday.
Forecasters predict that thunderstorms could produce destructive winds, heavy hail and massive long-distance tornadoes in parts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.
Forecasters say some parts of the southern and Midwest could lower the tornado storm systems over the next five days and are expected to stagnate on Thursday.
Nazaneen Ghaffar and Judson Jones Contribution report.
