7 dead as relentless spring storms unleash 'catastrophic' rainfall: Updates

Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on the severe weather across the central U.S. for Thursday, April 3. For the latest news on major storms, see USA TODAY's live weather file for Friday, April 4.

Widespread flooding was ongoing Thursday across the central U.S. as an atmospheric river hung over a vast swath of the country, leaving tens of thousands without power as the death toll climbed and forecasters warned of worsening conditions.

Tornadoes were reported from Arkansas to Illinois on Wednesday and early Thursday, according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center. Across multiple states, the devastation was immense. The storms and tornadoes flattened homes, tore off roofs, collapsed a warehouse, decimated a church, and overturned trailers.

In Kentucky, Misty Vincent huddled in a bathtub with her four children and two pets as the storm ramped up overnight. The roof of her home was ripped off, and rain began to pour onto them. "It’s like the sky opened up inside," she told the Louisville Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network.

At least seven deaths have been tied to the storms. Officials in Missouri said one person was killed Wednesday in the southeast part of the state, local news outlets reported. In Tennessee, officials reported at least five deaths across multiple counties, including McNairy, Obion, and Fayette. And in Indiana, authorities say a man died after touching a downed power line.

Over 30 million people from Texas to Ohio and West Virginia were still at risk Thursday of powerful tornadoes and major flooding, which is only expected to worsen over the coming days. "This is a catastrophic, potentially historic heavy rainfall and flash flood event," the National Weather Service said in a forecast, adding that people should prepare for "severe disruptions to daily life."

Thursday evening, the area at greatest risk for severe storms was again the mid-South, forecasters said. "Large hail, damaging winds, and a few strong tornadoes are all possible," the Storm Prediction Center said.

In a final update Thursday evening, the National Weather Service warned of a "potentially historic, prolonged flash flood" across the Lower Ohio Valley, Mid-South and Ozarks. Some locations could see over 15 inches of rain, according to forecasters.

In Tennessee, Memphis and Nashville were both in the area at most risk, as was Little Rock in Arkansas.

Developments:

∎ At least 10 tornadoes have been confirmed so far by the National Weather Service, including in Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Arkansas. A tornado confirmed in Bollinger County, Missouri, was one of three EF2s confirmed so far. It had estimated winds of 125 mph. Additional surveys are underway or planned.

∎ Major flooding has inundated parts of several states, including Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky and Illinois. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday at least 25 highways were blocked by floodwaters. In Nashville, emergency water rescues were ongoing, according to the city's fire department.

∎ Nearly 150,000 homes and businesses were without power Thursday evening, according to PowerOutage.us. The states with the most outages were Michigan, 83,309, and Indiana, 23,240.

∎ Hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled Thursday at major airports across the central U.S., including Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Chicago O'Hare International Airport, according to FlightAware.

'My home is gone': Battered residents sift through rubble

SELMER, Tenn. — Stacy Thompson pulled Polaroid pictures from the debris pile that was once her home. She sifted through the rubble, warped landscape of shrapnel and debris, and picked the pictures out of the clay mud.

The tornado − an EF-3 with 160 mph winds − had taken the house, which had been perched in downtown Selmer, a community of 4,500 people in West Tennessee's McNairy County. The house had belonged to her mother, Lola Weatherly, and was one of at least a dozen homes demolished by the storm. It was the second time in two years that a tornado devastated a tight-knit community in McNairy County, killing nine people.

Thompson found her mother's pictures, one by one — children and grandchildren at play, posing at family events, smirking mischievously at the camera. "We can lose some photos," Thompson said through tears. "I don't have to have a picture. At least she's here."

The debris pile hardly resembled what was once a home. But Weatherly was − by scant miracle − not there during the storm.

Weatherly was one of just several residents in the area who reported similar destruction at their homes. As of Thursday morning, at least four people were confirmed dead across Tennessee, with some residents still missing. Read more here.

– Angele Latham and Keith Sharon, The Tennessean

Is record flooding possible?

Flooding is forecast across much of the central US over the next several days: The National Water Prediction Service now expects major flooding at 38 gauges in seven states from Mississippi to Ohio, while moderate flooding is forecast at 113 waterway gauges in at least 10 states from Oklahoma to Michigan.

So far, none of the river forecasts predict record-breaking river flooding, though several rivers may rise to within one to two feet of their record levels. At Poplar Bluff, Missouri, the Black River is forecast to reach a height of 21.5 feet at the gauge, below the record of 22.1 feet.

– Dinah Voyles Pulver

'There's nothing else we can do': Kentucky family's home destroyed

In Fairdale, Kentucky, Vincent stood in her front yard Thursday morning, looking at the roof of her family’s home lying at her feet.

It was the remnants of the fierce storm that barreled through the area hours earlier. Vincent recalled seeing a funnel start to form before water poured down the walls inside and the bathroom ceiling began to cave in. She and her children, ages 6 to 16, were terrified. They prayed for their safety.

Now that the storm has cleared, Vincent is trying to steady herself with the help of relatives and neighbors. On Thursday, some of them worked to cover the exposed ceiling, and Vincent said others had offered to do laundry or get uniforms for her children.

"We have to push forward," she said. "There’s nothing else we can do."

– Krista Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal

Shelter organization prepares for potentially historic flooding

In the town of Paducah, Kentucky, which is bordered on one side by the Ohio River and the Illinois state line, Lacy Boling was making calls and plans on Thursday morning for the 48 women with children housed at the Paducah Cooperative Ministry transitional shelter.

The organization had put up some sandbags, but Boling, the executive director, said she worried it wouldn’t be enough. Boling said she’s received several calls asking where people who are homeless can go during the storms. But there is no emergency shelter in the area for them, she said.

"Unfortunately, some of these calls go, ‘There’s no place to go,'" Boling said.  

If the transitional shelter housing floods, Boling said residents might have to evacuate to an empty warehouse on the other side of town that is planned to be used to expand the Paducah Cooperative Ministry’s food pantry. But that’s not necessarily better suited to withstand flooding, she said.  

“We're experiencing a housing shortage, just like everywhere else in the nation,” Boling said.  “There's nowhere for people to go normally, and then you add on historic flooding, historic tornadoes ... it just compounds the issue."

Paducah Mayor George Bray said the Red Cross had flown a team to the city and was working to find locations for emergency shelter if needed. Many sheltered at hospitals Wednesday night amid the tornado risk, but Bray said the focus will turn to longer-term solutions for ongoing rain that will cause flooding.

– Jeanine Santucci

Papa John's headquarters in Kentucky sustains damage

Workers in neon yellow safety vests installed plywood to multiple windows of the Papa John's headquarters in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, after the building sustained minor damage in Wednesday's storms.

The campus also had property damage throughout, including a twisted fence along its western border and uprooted trees to the south. At least one tractor-trailer was overturned and a piece of metal roof was on the ground near Papa John's Boulevard.

More assessors were seen on the roof of the building Wednesday morning, but communication staff for the company could not immediately be reached for comment regarding the extent of the storm’s impact.

– Stephanie Kuzydym, Louisville Courier Journal

Child in critical condition after Kentucky church takes direct hit

An 8-year-old boy from Kentucky is in critical condition after being injured in the storms that swept the state Wednesday night.

Ballard County Director of Emergency Management Travis Holder said a family of four, including a mother, father, daughter, and a son was sheltering under a carport at Bethel Cumberland Presbyterian Church when the storms ramped up.

The church experienced a direct hit from debris brought by two simultaneous twin storm systems, and all members of the family were taken to Mercy Health in Paducah. The boy was eventually taken to an out-of-state hospital after doctors assessed his condition.

– Marina Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal

Emergency water rescues are ongoing in Nashville

The Nashville Fire Department said crews were responding Thursday to several flooding and water rescue calls.

Images released by the department show water crews traversing flooded city streets.

Memphis warned to prepare for flooding... and power outages

Heavy rain has started to affect rivers around Memphis, the weather service said: "While some rivers and streams have already shown a response from last night's rainfall, soils will soon also show a response," the weather service in Memphis said Thursday morning. "They will become supersaturated and leave no option but to reject all the additional rain as runoff. Flash flooding will emerge as a primary concern with this extremely active pattern."

"In addition, all of this rainfall will make tree limbs very weak and easily breakable. It is best to not only prepare for flooding, but power outages as well," the weather service said.

Memphis, the home of FedEx, handles millions of packages per day. Should major interstates be impacted in this zone, AccuWeather warned, there could be significant shipping and logistics delays that ripple across the country in the coming days and result in significant supply chain disruptions.

Scene in Carmel, Indiana: Torn-off roofs and shredded walls

When morning broke in Carmel, Indiana, a suburban city just north of Indianapolis, a string of business owners showed up to work to find ripped-off roofs and overturned trees. At one gym, equipment had flown nearly 50 feet. And nearby, drywall from a warehouse hung in the trees.

About a dozen people roamed the street, taking photos and surveying the damage that was likely the center of a suspected tornado that ran through with winds as high as 75 miles per hour. The south end of the Carmel Old Town Antique Mall was completely torn off.

The area of severe damage appeared to be relatively narrow, as roads a block away were clear of debris and damage. There are no known deaths related to the storms in Carmel.

– Alysa Guffey, Indianapolis Star

Businesses destroyed in Kentucky tornado

More than half a dozen businesses, including a day care, sustained high-speed winds that knocked in garage doors and tore apart metal roofs in Jeffersontown, Kentucky.

"Probably over half the building is torn up," Tim Meagher, owner of J&J Transportation, told the Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. He said in addition to the main building being destroyed, at least 10 tractors and trailers on his property were damaged during the storm.

Meagher's co-owner, Mark Plummer, was in the building when it partially collapsed, but suffered no injuries. One of his drivers, Randall Lampkin, was sleeping in the cab of a truck outside the building when a trailer was lifted into the air and slammed into it, Meagher said. Lampkin was uninjured.

"I was tore up," he said. "I'm just glad nobody's hurt. We can fix this building. We'll be back."

– Eleanor McCrary, Louisville Courier Journal

Flooded roads, abandoned vehicles

As torrential rain fell hard across the middle of the country, officials closed major thoroughfares and warned people to stay off the roads.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation reported several major road closures, including the northbound lanes of Interstate 65. All of Nashville was under flood and tornado advisories Thursday morning as images showed cars submerged in floodwaters.

In Indianapolis, vehicles were caught in floodwaters beneath a bridge and abandoned, police said. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department published images showing water over the vehicles' headlights.

Streets across Detroit turned to rivers as record rain fell on Wednesday and continued Thursday. At Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus, a new record – 2.18 inches – was set for Wednesday, breaking the previous record of 1.44 inches in 1945. In Flint, the new record was 1.75 inches, besting the record of 1.62 inches also set in 1945.

Atmospheric river to blame, will dump 3 to 4 tropical storms of rain

Yes, it's an atmospheric river that's causing some of the weather issues in the central U.S.

Normally associated with West Coast storms, atmospheric rivers are ribbons of water vapor that extend hundreds or thousands of miles from the tropics to the U.S. In general, atmospheric rivers pick up water vapor from the warm, moist air of tropical regions and then drop the water over land in cooler regions as rain or snow.

"This moisture plume, known as an atmospheric river, will be tropical in nature and originate from the Caribbean," AccuWeather meteorologist William Clark said. "Tropical moisture raises the risk of excessive rainfall."

He said it will behave like a tropical storm moving slowly across the area. However, with multiple rounds forecast in four to five days, it may be more like three or four tropical storms passing over the same region, with each unloading copious amounts of rain.

Tennessee state troopers assist after 'night of tornadoes'

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said several strike teams are in areas impacted by tornadoes that swept across the state Wednesday night and early Thursday.

The state agency released video on social media of troopers responding to tornado reports, searching through the wreckage of a flattened home near Selmer, a small city just north of Mississippi, which took a direct hit.

"They’re out in the middle of a lightning storm, looking for anyone who might be trapped or hurt – while strong storm cells passed just north and south of them, possibly with more tornadoes," the Tennessee Highway Patrol said.

Rare tornado emergency in Arkansas, warehouse collapses in Indiana

In Brownsburg, Indiana, a suspected tornado collapsed a section of a large warehouse Wednesday evening, trapping one woman inside before she was rescued, local media outlets reported.

"Lots of storm damage across central Indiana," the state police said in a statement Thursday on X, urging people to stay off flooded roads and avoid debris.

In northern Arkansas, the National Weather Service issued a tornado emergency, the highest warning possible, as a "large and destructive tornado” hit Lake City and surrounding areas in the northeastern part of the state.

The police department in the nearby area of Blytheville issued a stark warning overnight: "SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY! A tornado has been spotted on the ground."

'We're taking cover': Tennessee state agent shelters in hotel bathroom

A member of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security took to a hotel bathroom for shelter after a tornado warning was issued in Middle Tennessee overnight.

Special Agent Jason Pack said he began sheltering around 3:20 a.m. after a tornado warning activated in Davidson County, which encompasses the city of Nashville.

"The emergency alert came out and we're taking cover," he said in a video posted on the Tennessee Highway Patrol's Facebook page. "We do take our own advice."

He urged residents to keep up with weather updates as the storms pass over the state.

Hundreds of schools close amid severe weather outbreak

School districts across the U.S. canceled class on Thursday, citing the dangerous weather conditions brought by a massive springtime storm system.

Districts in Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio announced a delayed start to class, a shift to virtual learning, or a complete closing of schools.

In Tennessee, Metro Nashville Public Schools, a district that serves over 81,000 students, closed for the day and canceled all after-school practices, games, and meetings.

Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee under states of emergency

Ahead of the storms, several governors declared states of emergency to unlock funds and resources to assist in the preparation of the severe weather and eventual recovery effort.

States of emergency were declared in Kentucky, Arkansas, and Tennessee, with officials urging residents to prepare for potentially historic flash flooding and tornadoes by packing a go-bag and staying updated on the weather in their areas.

"This is a reminder for all of Kentucky that we are facing one of the most serious weather events we've had forecast," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement on X late Wednesday. "Please stay alert, take all precautions, and be prepared."

Tornado warnings, flood advisories abound

(This story was updated to add new information.)