Kemper County, Mississippi Tornado: Storm System Turns Deadly On Path Through Southeast

Tornado Turns Deadly In Mississippi

A storm system moving through the central U.S. has turned deadly in the Southeast. The National Weather Service confirmed Thursday that a tornado touched down in Mississippi, according to Alabama Live.

Officials have reported at least one fatality in eastern Mississippi, where the tornado destroyed a steel building.

A tornado watch remains in effect until 8 p.m. Thursday for southwestern Alabama and northwest Florida, according to WAFB.

Tabatha Lott, a dispatcher in Noxubee County, said there were "numerous reports of injuries" in the town of Shuqualak, though it wasn't immediately clear how many were injured. Flynn also said there are reports of damaged buildings and many power outages.

The T-shaped system first swept across the nation's midsection Wednesday night and pummeled portions of Missouri, where the National Weather Service said Thursday that an EF-2 tornado appears to have damaged dozens of homes in the St. Louis suburb of Hazelwood. That category of tornado generally packs winds of 113 to 157 mph.

Crews with the weather service still were assessing whether tornadoes were to blame for other damage in Missouri and neighboring Illinois, meteorologist Mark Fuchs said. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency shortly after the storm swept through the eastern part of Missouri, bringing hail, up to 2 1/2 inches of rain and strong winds.

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April 2013 Midwest Storms

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