At least 2 dead as Texas and Mississippi hit by multiple tornadoes, severe storms
At least two people died and several more were injured as multiple tornadoes touched down in Texas and Mississippi on Saturday, damaging homes and flipping vehicles amid severe weather.
The National Weather Service's severe storm tracker indicated the system was moving east through Alabama into Georgia shortly before 4 a.m. The agency issued severe thunderstorm warnings with the possibility of tornadoes in western Georgia and the northwestern tip of Florida directly above the Gulf of Mexico.
One person died in the Liverpool area, located south of Houston, and four people suffered injuries that weren't considered critical, said Madison Polston, spokesperson for the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office.
Polston said there were "multiple touchdown points" in the county between Liverpool and Hillcrest Village and Alvin. She said that so far officials knew of around 10 damaged homes but were still working to determine the extent of the damage.
In the southwestern Mississippi city of Natchez, severe weather was responsible for one death and two injuries, Malary White, spokesperson for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, told CBS News in an email. She did not immediately provide details on the circumstances of the death. Another two people were injured in neighboring Franklin County, White added.
The National Weather Service said two tornadoes hit around the nearby southwestern Mississippi cities of Bude and Brandon, ripping the roofs from several buildings.
"These storms are probably going to get a lot worse this evening and overnight the further east you go," said Josh Lichter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
It appeared that at least six tornadoes touched down in the Houston area, though they may discover there were more when crews go out to survey the damage, Litcher said. He said there was damage in the area from both tornadoes and straight-line winds.
Jason Smith, deputy chief of staff for Montgomery County, which is located just north of Houston, told CBS News in an email that 50 to 100 homes were damaged by severe weather that downed trees and powerlines.
Smith added that at least two people were hospitalized, but so far there were no reports of critical injuries.
Mobile homes were damaged or destroyed in the Montgomery County communities of Katy and Porter Heights, where the doors of a fire station were blown in, the weather service said.
The storms also caused departure delays of over an hour Saturday afternoon at Houston's two main airports — Bush Intercontinental and Hobby — according to the website FlightAware.
As of Sunday morning, more than 67,000 customers were without power in Mississippi, according to utility tracker PowerOutage.us. Another 59,000 were also without power in Georgia and 21,000 were without power in Louisiana.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency did not have any official damage reports but expected them to come in later. First responders were focused on ensuring people's safety and making sure everyone was accounted for, according to White.
"We do anticipate more thorough damage assessments starting in the early morning hours," she told the Associated Press.
The National Weather Service office in Birmingham, Alabama, issued overnight severe thunderstorm warnings for several areas in the southern part of the state, advising residents to seek shelter to avoid possible damaging winds up to 60 mph.
Severe weather has hit several portions of the U.S. throughout the holiday week. On Thursday, a series of thunderstorms caused ground stops at both Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field.
