April 3, 2025 – Tornadoes devastate central US

• Multiple deaths after tornado outbreak: Dozens of destructive tornadoes broke out in the central US on Wednesday evening and tracked east overnight, killing at least seven people across Tennessee, Missouri and Indiana. Track the tornadoes here.

• Tornadothreat far from over: Storms lost some of their punch Thursday morning, but parts of hard-hit Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi faced storm threats throughout the day. And severe storms could impact the region through Saturday.

• Once-in-a-lifetime flooding possible: Nearly nonstop rain into the weekend could trigger “generational” flooding in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi, forecasters warn. Parts of those states and others in the Mississippi Valley are now under the highest risk of flooding rainfall for three consecutive days — which is almost unheard of outside hurricane season.

Our live coverage of the storms slamming the central US has ended. Get the latest here.

A central Missouri man is among those digging through debris to find his belongings after a tornado heavily damaged his childhood home, CNN affiliate KOMU reported.

Jonathon Gerke said he rushed to his Pilot Grove home on Wednesday after seeing a tornado warning for the area while at work.

When he arrived, he found that while his father, dog and cat were safe, the EF2 twister had torn the roof off their home, damaged multiple cars and ripped the garage away.

As Gerke began digging through the debris, he realized some things may be permanently lost.

Classes and activities are cancelled Friday at Union University in western Tennessee after a major roof leak at the Penick Academic Complex, the school said Thursday night.

The building was evacuated and all students and personnel were safe, spokesperson Tim Ellsworth said.

Union University is in Jackson, about 40 miles north of Selmer, Tennessee, in a region slammed by severe storms Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Preliminary data shows a tornado that hit Selmer was rated at least an EF3, with winds speeds of up to 160 mph.

As storms continue across the US, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee warned residents in the state to be prepared for potential tornado warnings and flash flooding for the next couple days, saying “Don’t let your guard down.”

“There’s been a lot of damage, there’s been a lot of tornadoes, there’s been loss of life and real devastation across the state, but this storm is going to continue,” he said, adding that people should pay attention to alerts and warnings from their local municipalities.

The state has reported at least five deaths, and around 7,500 people were without power as of 4:00 p.m. local time, said Patrick Sheehan, director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.

A family in Ballard County, Kentucky, was injured by flying debris as tornadoes touched down in a number of places across the state overnight, according to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

“One injury to that family was more significant than the others,” the governor said.

A mom, dad, daughter and son were sheltering under a church carport when an EF2 tornado hit, said Travis Holder, director of Ballard County Emergency Management. The 8-year-old son is in critical condition at an out-of-state hospital, he added.

Ballard County is about 40 miles west of Paducah.

The airport in McCracken County, just outside Paducah, was also hit and damaged, Beshear said. About 3.5 hours northeast, some commercial buildings were damaged in Jefferson County, home to Louisville, the state’s largest city.

The governor warned residents to expect at least three more days of significant rainfall, with the possibility of both flash flooding and more widespread flooding, especially in western and central Kentucky. Most of Kentucky’s major rivers may experience river bank flooding as rainfall continues, Beshear said.

This post has been updated with additional information.

Over a dozen water rescues took place in Nashville, Tennessee, today as heavy rain continues to impact the mid-south and lower Ohio Valley.

Video just outside Trevecca Nazarene University shows first responders approaching a partially submerged vehicle and assisting the driver as he crawls out of a window and onto a raft.

The Nashville Fire Department Special Operations division responded to 15 water-related calls from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time, it told CNN.

“All rescues that were performed were successful and there were no injuries reported,” NFD said.

The fire department shared video on X of flooding just a few blocks from the university and encouraged residents to avoid flooded roads and watch out for downed trees and debris.

Gov. Bill Lee described areas of Selmer, Tennessee, as “unrecognizable” after a tornado ripped through the town, with “entire neighborhoods wiped out.”

Selmer is approximately 100 miles east of Memphis.

President Donald Trump has approved an emergency declaration for Tennessee, making aid available to help response efforts. Lee said he hasn’t spoken with Trump directly but has talked with officials in his administration.

While the state is still reeling from the impact of tornadoes and storms, Lee warned that the next several days could spur more tornado activity and flooding. Swift water teams that help people if they get caught in flooding are being prepared ahead of the heavy rain, he said.

View drone footage of the destruction here:

Tornadoes in Bay and Lake City, Arkansas, and Selmer, Tennessee, on Wednesday night and early Thursday were at least EF3s, according to the National Weather Service.

These ratings for the two tornadoes are preliminary – which means they could change – and are only based on early findings, the NWS noted:

There are at least seven people injured, with six people in Lake City and one person in nearby Monette, said Lacey Kanipe, spokesperson for the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management.

Damage surveys had to be cut short before they were complete out of concern for the safety of the NWS survey team due to ongoing stormy weather.

Depending on the extent of damage, it may take days to determine a final rating for each tornado. The tornadoes could end up being rated higher than EF3, but they will not be rated lower.

In Carmel, Indiana, a survey team found EF1 tornado damage, the NWS office in Indianapolis said this afternoon. Carmel is about 23 miles north of Indianapolis.

CNN’s Michael Yoshida contributed to this report.

Heavy rain has been pounding the central US since Wednesday afternoon, triggering flash flooding in multiple states.

Parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas have so far borne the brunt of the worst rain, with some areas picking up nearly a month’s worth of rain.

Here are some of the highest 24-hour rainfall totals:

Memphis usually picks up about 5.8 inches of rain in the entire month of April. It’s gotten most of that rain in 24 hours. Bowling Green also recorded nearly an entire April’s worth of rain in the same period.

The Weather Prediction Center just took another step to signal how extreme this week’s risk of generational, life-threatening flooding really is for parts of the Mississippi Valley.

Friday’s level 3 of 4 risk of flooding rainfall was upgraded to a level 4 of 4 high risk this afternoon. Now these rare high risks are in place for three consecutive days – Thursday, Friday and Saturday – which is almost unheard of outside of hurricane season.

Last year had two stretches of at least three consecutive high risk of flooding rainfall days, but those were due to Hurricane Debby in August and Hurricane Helene in September. Similar stretches unfolded after catastrophic rainfall from Hurricane Florence in 2018 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

It’s hard to overstate just how significant level 4 of 4, high risk flooding events are. They are issued on fewer than 4% of days per year on average, but are responsible for 80% of all flood-related damage and 36% of all flood-related deaths, research from the WPC shows.

All three high risk areas are either centered on or include Arkansas. Parts of Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Illinois, Indiana and Oklahoma are also within these risk areas on one or more days.

Destructive overnight storms left six people injured and dozens of homes damaged across several counties in Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeve said today.

No deaths have been reported. Those injured were in Marshall, Tate and Tippah Counties, the governor said.

At least 60 homes suffered damage across the counties of Benton, Bolivar, Marshall, Tate and Tippah, Reeve said. Damage assessments are still ongoing and that number could rise, he said.

“We know there are a lot of Mississippians that are struggling and suffering right now, and we’re going to keep them in our thoughts and prayers,” the governor said.

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun activated the state’s National Guard Thursday to help with recovery after last night’s severe storms and tornadoes.

“Our Hoosier guardsmen always answer the call to serve, and in times like these, I am immensely grateful for the soldiers who are on the ground ensuring Hoosier safety,” he said in a post on X.

The severe weather impacted communities throughout Indiana, the governor said in an earlier post, adding the extent of the damage is still being assessed.

At least one person is dead in the state following the storms.

More than 4,000 flights in the US have been delayed as storms and tornado threats continue.

According to aviation tracking site FlightAware, nearly 600 US flights were canceled as of 2:45 p.m. ET.

Nashville International Airport saw 24% of its departures delayed, Washington DC’s Reagan National had 19%, and Detroit had 17%. Hubs Dallas-Fort Worth International and Chicago O’Hare led the country in departures being canceled, with 63 and 44 flights respectively.

American Airlines and United Airlines have travel advisories in place to make it easier for passengers wanting to reschedule their flights due to the weather.

Storms are rumbling from Texas to the Ohio Valley this afternoon and some are starting to get pretty feisty.

Severe thunderstorm warnings are starting to pop up in parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas this afternoon as yet another damaging storm threat starts to come together. Storms will intensify further later this afternoon and into the evening.

Damaging wind gusts and hail are the main threats with any storm but a few strong tornadoes – rated EF2 or higher – are possible. The greatest tornado threat stretches from far northeastern Texas through Arkansas and into central Tennessee.

A tornado watch is in effect for more than 5 million people in Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi and Arkansas until 10 p.m. CDT. Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee, are in the watch.

Tornadoes tore through the central US over the past 24 hours and more are possible this evening.

Here’s what to do if you end up in the path of a tornado, according to the National Weather Service:

Some people without basements construct personal, underground storm shelters that are engineered to withstand a tornado strike. But those can be cost- and space-prohibitive for many.

In short: Get as low to the ground – or under it – as you can and protect your body – especially your head – from debris.

Drone video captured a small group of horses fleeing floodwaters near Interstate 65 in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, which is northeast of Nashville.

In the video, Mansker Creek has overflown its banks and surrounded a small red building and approached nearby houses.

The Metro Christian Academy, which is next to the creek, does not appear to be flooded.

A level 4 of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms is now in place tomorrow for parts of northeastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma and nearly half of Arkansas, according to the Storm Prediction Center. This higher threat level signals forecasters are more confident that dangerous thunderstorms will roar through the area Friday.

“The greatest threat for tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds will be from the ArkLaTex across western Arkansas, including potential for strong to potentially intense tornadoes,” the SPC warned.

Those potentially intense tornadoes could be rated EF3 or stronger and some of Friday’s hail could be bigger than eggs.

A few storms could start rumbling to life in Friday morning, but the fiercest storms will develop starting mid-afternoon and continue through the evening.

Severe thunderstorms could also bring damaging wind gusts, hail and tornadoes to other portions of the central US, but the greatest tornado risk largely centers on Arkansas.

Residents of towns in Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee are picking up the pieces after tornadoes and severe storms rolled into their area.

The storm outbreak has left at least seven people dead, and there is a possibility of a new round of storms with potential tornadoes today.

Indiana is reporting one death related to the overnight storms: in Hendricks County outside of Indianapolis, where a man came in contact with power lines that were downed by the severe weather, according to Bridget Campbell with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.

Hendricks County sheriff’s deputies found a blue pickup truck on fire near the edge of the road in Danville on Wednesday night, with an unresponsive man on the ground nearby, a release from the sheriff’s office said.

After power was shut off to lines that were down in the area, rescue personnel approached the 27-year-old man, who was pronounced dead at the scene, the sheriff’s office said.

Investigators believe the man was driving the truck when it struck downed lines in the road, and that he came into contact with the lines when he left the vehicle, according to the sheriff’s office.

The newly reported victim raises the death toll in the severe weather outbreak in the country to seven, including five deaths in Tennessee and one in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri.

This post has been updated with additional information.

Severe weather is spurring power outages across multiple states.

Here’s what to do if you’re facing one, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross:

Remember: Never use a generator indoors. Incorrectly using a generator can lead to electric shock or electrocution, fire, or carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the US Consumer Product and Safety Commission.

Firefighters have been working since the early morning hours to help communities devastated by the overnight tornadoes in Tennessee.

Christopher Hansen-Padilla, a firefighter with the cities of Jackson and Selmer, told CNN his crew was some of the first out on the scene around 2 a.m. local time this morning.

“This is my small little community and anywhere that I can lend a hand and help my community, that’s what I’m here for,” he said.

Videos captured by Hansen-Padilla show the extensive damage as debris can be seen thrown across the area.

Video credit: Christopher Hansen-Padilla

More than 213,000 customers are without power across a broad swath of the central US, according to PowerOutage.us, as a strong line of storms rife with tornadoes marches east.

With more dangerous weather and flooding forecast Thursday, here’s a breakdown of customers without power as of 11:25 a.m. ET:

Separately, more than 114,000 customers have no electricity in Michigan after weekend ice storms.

Areas from Arkansas to Kentucky could record historic amounts of rain this week that trigger once-in-a-generation flooding. Flooding has already begun in some areas, but it’s expected to get much worse through Saturday.

Some of the predicted rainfall amounts are so off the charts, forecasters need another way to put them into perspective. That’s when you start to hear about 1-in-25-year or 1-in-100-year or even 1-in-1000-year rainfall events.

But the terminology is still a little confusing because a 1-in-100-year event isn’t guaranteed to happen only once in a century. It can happen twice in a decade or even a week.

That’s because it’s a measure of probability, not frequency.

A 1-in-100-year event has a 1% chance of occurring in a year. A 1-in-25-year event has a 4% chance, a 1-in-1000-year event has a 0.1% chance and so on.

Memphis, Tennessee, is one area that could have anywhere from a 1-in-100-year to 1-in-500-year event this week. The city picked up more than 2.5 inches of rain on Wednesday and could get an additional 8 to 10 inches through Saturday. A little over 10 inches of rain in four days would be a 1-in-100-year event while a foot would raise it to a 1-in-500-year event.

To the north, Paducah, Kentucky, could also record a foot of rain by Saturday, which would be a 1-in-1000-year event for that city.

Statistically, these types of heavy rain events should not be happening as frequently as they are, but climate change is skewing the odds by making intense rainfall more likely. Climate change has intensified hourly rainfall rates in nearly 90% of large US cities since 1970, a recent study found.

Two more deaths from the overnight severe weather outbreak were confirmed Thursday morning by authorities in Tennessee who warned the toll there could continue to rise.

A storm death was reported in Carroll County – about 100 miles west of Nashville – by the state Department of Health, Tennessee Emergency Management spokesperson Kristin Coulter told CNN. A second death from an overnight reported tornado was confirmed in Fayette County by the county’s sheriff’s office.

A house trailer outside of the Moscow community in Fayette County – about 45 miles east of Memphis – was overturned by a tornado early Thursday morning, Chief Deputy Raymond Garcia said. A 48-year-old man died at the scene, and his 16-year-old daughter was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Three other members of the family remain hospitalized, including the teenage victim’s mother, who had to be freed from the rubble, Garcia said.

The newly reported victims raise the death toll in the severe weather outbreak to six, including deaths in McNairy and Obion counties in Tennessee and Cape Girardeau County, Missouri.

“We did have some tornadoes that hit McNairy County a few years ago,” Coulter said. “Those were fatal as well. So there are still parts of the county that are dealing with the aftermath of those and now this.”

Life-threatening flash flooding is ongoing in and around Nashville after hours of heavy rain have soaked the area.

Nashville is covered by two flash flood warnings and in both, the National Weather Service warns, “flash flooding has been ongoing and will continue due to additional rainfall this morning.”

At least 2 to 4 inches of rain have soaked the city in the past six hours. The Nashville International Airport picked up more than 3 inches in that time, which is more than half of the typical rainfall it records in all of April.

The Nashville Fire Department is urging drivers to use caution, avoid flooded roads and be aware of downed trees.

Charles Vankirk sifted through the shredded remains of his daughter’s home in northeastern Arkansas this morning, hoping to find any personal items left after a line of storms rife with tornadoes swept through overnight.

Vankirk’s daughter, a mother of three, had left her house in Lake City to take refuge in a storm shelter before the worst of it hit, he told CNN’s Ryan Young in the small city about an hour’s drive northwest of Memphis.

When they returned after the storm, the house was no longer there.

Vankirk’s family is devastated, he said, but safe.

“Our heart dropped, because they could have been gone,” he said. “They could have been gone. They wouldn’t be with us today.”

Some residents in an apartment complex in southwestern Tennessee took shelter in their laundry rooms as tornadoes swept through the area overnight, one resident told CNN.

Justin West, who lives in the Selmer, Tennessee, complex, captured the damage as he and other residents walked through the area surveying the damage. West told CNN his apartment survived the storm but the units in the front of the complex “are almost gone.”

Piles of debris and wreckage can be seen as West walked throughout the complex on Thursday morning. Some cars sitting in the parking lot were destroyed and portions of the roof were torn apart.

“Most people took shelter in their laundry rooms inside of the apartments,” he said. The complex is less than a year old, as West says it opened in June.

Selmer is in southwestern Tennessee about 92 miles east of Memphis.

Watch as West walks through the apartment complex here:

Video credit: Justin West

A family in Selmer, Tennessee – which got the worst of the tornado outbreak – escaped unharmed but shaken after their home collapsed around them last night.

“We got in the hallway, and everything came down,” Paul Floyd told CNN affiliate WHBQ.

As daylight arrived Thursday morning, Floyd’s home had little left but crumbling brick and a twisted wrought iron railing. His front door remained precariously upright, tagged with spray paint from a search and rescue team that ensured no one was trapped inside.

“I just can’t believe we made it out. I mean, stuff was falling out of the ceiling, you know, you’re down on the floor,” Floyd said. “Three minutes. That’s all it took.”

Floyd’s family spent the sleepless night in a shelter at the local courthouse.

“We just left with the shirts on our back,” he told WHBQ.

Storms this morning have definitely lost a lot of the ferocity they had Wednesday and overnight, but the threat of damage is far from over.

A level 3 of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms is in place from far northeastern Texas to western Tennessee, while a level 2 of 5 risk spans around 1,500 miles of the United States, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

A few stronger thunderstorms may redevelop throughout the day in these areas, but a higher chance for storms that could bring tornadoes will start late this afternoon or early this evening.

Strong tornadoes – rated EF2 or greater – are possible, mainly in the level 3 of 5 risk area. And that’s the same area that was pummeled by storms and violent tornadoes last night. Any debris could quickly turn into dangerous projectiles if today’s storms produce additional tornadoes or powerful wind gusts.

Today isn’t the end of the storm threat either: Similar level 3 of 5 risk levels are in place for nearly the same region Friday and Saturday.

There are reports of damaged homes, blocked roads, and power outages after a tornado struck Senatobia, Mississippi, just south of Memphis overnight, Tate County emergency management director Jim Huestis tells CNN.

Officials are still working to determine the full scope of the damage caused by the storm, Huestis said.

A particularly dangerous situation tornado warning was issued for the Senatobia area around 1:00 a.m. local time.

Nearly 300 tornado warnings have been issued across 15 states since Wednesday morning by the National Weather Service during the major tornado outbreak across the central US.

The bulk of the warnings came Wednesday evening and overnight in the Lower Mississippi Valley. It was one of the ten-busiest days for tornado warnings in both the Memphis and Paducah offices of the National Weather Service.

This year is off to an incredibly busy start with nearly 1,000 tornado warnings so far in 2025.

This is the second-most of any year up to this point, behind only 2008 (1024), according to a CNN analysis of NOAA data. The busy year comes amid damaging cuts to the workforce of NOAA and the National Weather Service that have left some critical offices understaffed.

At least four people are dead in the wake of an outbreak of severe storms and tornadoes.

One person died overnight Wednesday in Missouri due to the storms, officials said. The death happened in Cape Girardeau County in southeast Missouri, according to local emergency management director Sam Herndon.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said it was investigating the death but had no additional information on the circumstances.

Three people were killed in Tennessee overnight, with deaths in Obion, Fayette and McNairy counties confirmed by state and local authorities.

More than 3.6 million people are under flash flood warnings in Tennessee and northern Mississippi this morning as the second day of a life-threatening flooding event begins.

“This isn’t routine. This is a rare, high-impact and potentially devastating event,” the National Weather Service in Memphis, Tennessee, warned Wednesday.

Yesterday marked the start of four days of rain for the region, with NWS forecasters emphasizing these possibly “generational rainfall amounts” could lead to “catastrophic flooding.”

“Extensive, rare, and at times catastrophic, flash flooding is likely… flash flood water levels may reach areas that rarely or have never flooded before,” forecasters at the NWS in Little Rock, Arkansas, said.

A rare level 4 of 4 high risk of flooding rainfall is in place today for portions of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys where round after round of storms will drop heavy rain through Saturday. Another level 4 of 4 risk was recently issued for Saturday that encompasses nearly the exact same locations as today’s.

It’s hard to overstate just how significant level 4 of 4, high risk flooding events are. They are issued on fewer than 4% of days per year on average, but are responsible for 80% of all flood-related damage and 36% of all flood-related deaths, research from the WPC shows.

Some of the heaviest rain will occur overnight each night, making flooding more dangerous as it’s almost impossible to figure out exactly how serious it is in the dark.

By Saturday, areas caught repeatedly under the heaviest storms could end up with more than 15 inches of rain.

Authorities in the southwestern Tennessee city of Selmer have been sifting through debris for anyone that might be trapped or hurt after tornadoes swept through the region.

Officers searched the wreckage of what was once a home in the area early Thursday, an officer’s body camera footage shared by the Tennessee Highway Patrol shows.

State troopers, McNairy County deputies, Selmer police and firefighters were among those searching, the highway patrol said on Facebook.

Lightning illuminated the sky as authorities searched, the video shows. Searchers also inspected vehicles for anyone that might have been trapped or stranded.

Watch the body camera footage here:

Storms stretch from the southern Plains to the Northeast this morning after a devastating night of severe thunderstorms. Some of the most potent storms are currently sweeping through West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The storms aren’t as intense as they were Wednesday evening when multiple tornadoes struck, but are still dangerous enough to produce severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings in the past few hours.

Torrential, flooding rain is the most significant threat this morning. Flash flood warnings stretch over nearly a third of Tennessee – including Memphis and Nashville – where some storms are dumping about an inch of rain per hour. More than 5 inches of rain have already fallen in some of the hardest-hit areas since yesterday.

Persistent rain and storms will complicate any cleanup efforts for areas hit hard by destructive tornadoes in the past 12 hours.

This line of storms was so powerful, it spawned a tornado that threw a man into his neighbor’s yard as it destroyed his home in hard-hit Selmer, Tennessee, about 90 miles east of Memphis, he said.

Matt Vandevander jumped into his bathtub to try to ride out the storm, but it was too late.

“I could just hear my house ripping apart, and then I was instantly in the neighbor’s backyard, it felt like,” he told CNN affiliate WMC before dawn Thursday.

Incredibly, Vandevander escaped with only a few scratches, he said. His mother, whose nearby home also was destroyed, was uninjured.

“I assumed she had died,” Vandevander said. “We heard her voice, and that was such a relief.”

Though his neighborhood – his whole life – is uprooted, Vandevander feels fortunate.

“It’s a miracle,” he told WMC. “I’m very happy – happier than I probably should be.”

The line of storms has left utter destruction in one section of Lake City, Arkansas.

Gigantic hills of debris remain after several homes were ripped apart Wednesday evening by an apparent tornado. Power lines dangle from shredded trees, and overturned cars sit as if tossed like toys.

The smell of gasoline permeates the air.

At least five homes were damaged in the area, the city’s mayor tells CNN.

Drivers should stay off the roads as parts of Tennessee get battered by severe weather, state Department of Transportation officials are warning.

“It’s still storming pretty good right now,” the agency’s western Tennessee regional spokesperson Nichole Lawrence told CNN before dawn Thursday. “Our crews are working on getting a handle.”

The extent of damage is still not entirely clear, Lawrence said, but there does appear to be significant damage to New Bethel Road in Selmer. Crews are waiting until sunrise to get a full assessment of the damage.

Meanwhile, state troopers were clearing roads and checking for stranded drivers Thursday morning in Dickson County in the Nashville metro area.

“Please steer clear of areas with damage, so emergency workers and first responders can do their jobs,” Lawrence tweeted from her public account Thursday morning.

Three deaths from the severe storm outbreak in Tennessee were confirmed by state and local officials early Thursday.

A storm-related death in Obion County was confirmed by the state Department of Health, and a fatality in Fayette County was announced by local Emergency Management Director Justin Lewis.

Four more people were hurt in Fayette County, with two in critical condition, said Lewis.

A third storm death was confirmed earlier in McNairy County, about 90 miles east of Memphis. The county includes the town of Selmer, which was experiencing back-to-back supercell storms early Thursday.

The locations of the fatalities show the wide span of severe storms in West Tennessee overnight. Obion County is on the northern edge of the state, bordering Kentucky, while McNairy and Fayette counties are both more than 100 miles to the south on the state’s border with Mississippi.

Knowing the difference between a tornado watch, a tornado warning and a tornado emergency could mean the difference between life and death.

Here’s what each tornado alert means:

Tornado watch:

Atornado watch means conditions are favorable for tornadoes to develop. It does not mean there is a tornado.

The message is: Be on watch in case storms strengthen. Be alert. Stay informed about the weather in your area in case conditions intensify.

You should: Have your supplies ready. Choose a safe place to shelter, if necessary. And have a plan to get there – in case a tornado develops.

Tornado warning:

Atornado warning means a tornado has been spotted or there is a strong indication on radar a tornado is in progress.

The message is: A tornado is imminent or underway. Seek shelter immediately.

You should: Get to your safe place until the tornado threat has passed.

Tornado emergency:

Atornado emergency means a tornado is happening now. It is the highest level and most serious of any tornado alert – basically a tornado warning on steroids.

The message is: A tornado is hitting now and will have a significant impact on human life, with catastrophic destruction to property.

You should: Get to your safe place immediately until the tornado threat has passed.

The same goes for other severe weather advisories, like flash flood warnings, issued by the National Weather Service. A flood watch is issued when conditions are favorable for flooding; it does not mean flooding will occur, but it is possible. A flood warning, or flash flood warning, is issued when flooding is imminent or occurring.

Guests at Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland resort sheltered in the basement after a tornado warning was issued around 3 a.m. local time, video from X user Mike Hockett shows.

Then, shortly after getting the all-clear to return to their rooms, a second warning was issued, and guests had to evacuate again to the basement as sirens sounded, his video shows.

The warnings came as a dangerous line of storms capable of producing tornadoes sweeps across western and middle Tennessee, the National Weather Service has said.

Watch the moment here:

Video credit: Mike Hockett/X

Emergency officials had declared a state of emergency in Tennessee before severe storms and flooding swept across the state overnight, Gov. Bill Lee said on X.

The move allows the state to mobilize resources to respond to the storm, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said in a release.

The governor has requested federal assistance to aid in debris removal, emergency protective measures and more, according to TEMA.

The person responsible for informing the public about storm damage throughout Tennessee was among those who had to take cover early Thursday morning.

“The emergency alert came out, and we’re taking cover,” Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security spokesperson Jason Pack said in a Facebook video. “So we do take our own advice.”

Pack spoke from a Nashville hotel bathroom, where he said he and other first responders were preparing for a training event. The city was put under a tornado warning at about 3:30 a.m. local time.

Watch the moment here:

One person has been confirmed dead in McNairy County, Tennessee, after severe storms swept through the area, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said.

McNairy County is in southern, Tennessee, about 90 miles east of Memphis. The county includes the town of Selmer, which was experiencing back-to-back supercell storms early Thursday.

The Tennessee Department of Health confirmed the weather-related death to the Tennessee agency, Melissa Egan, a TEMA spokesperson, told CNN.

A line of intense, back-to-back severe storms is moving through Tennessee early Thursday, bringing tornado warnings and reports of damage.

“This is the very definition of training storms,” said CNN Meteorologist Gene Norman.

These “training storms” are expected to continue over the next few days, contributing to the wider threat of once-in-a-lifetime flooding in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi, forecasters warned.

Paul Reuter was at work when his youngest daughter texted to say she and the family were sheltering in the bathroom during a tornado warning.

Moments later, more messages arrived.

His mother and neighbor both shared devastating news: his home in Missouri was badly damaged, and his auto shop was destroyed, according to CNN affiliate KOMU.

“It’s a mess, you know. You don’t know what to think,” Reuter, a mechanic in Columbia, told KOMU. “First it was rage… but then you got to figure out how to pick the pieces up.”

The tornado left his auto shop nearly flattened — its roof blown off, and tools, water and oil scattered across the floor, the outlet reported. His home next door lost two-thirds of its roof, and a fallen utility pole cut power to the property.

But as the destruction settled in, so did the support.

David Lorenz, an electrician and longtime friend, arrived to replace the utility pole free of charge. Lorenz had his own loss to bear — a trailer home down the street, intended for his grandson, had been reduced to rubble.

“What else we gonna do?” Lorenz told KOMU. “Push her in a pile and say adios.”

Others joined the recovery effort.

Dickinson Roofing of Sedalia repaired Reuter’s roof and at least a dozen others at no cost. “We have the capabilities,” owner Brian Dickinson told KOMU. “Somebody working at a Subway or a factory doesn’t really have the capabilities to get up on a roof. So we got our tools, our crews our personnel.”

More than 280,000 customers are without power across Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Arkansas, according to PowerOutage.US, as intense and violent tornadoes plow through the central US.

Here’s the breakdown of customers without power as of 4 a.m. E.T.

Separately, more than 117,000 customers are without power in Michigan after being impacted by ice storms from the previous weekend.

Nashville is under a tornado warning, according to the National Weather Service, the latest in a series of heightened warnings for parts of Tennessee in the last few hours.

The NWS issued the warning at 2:36 a.m. C.T. as a dangerous storm with the potential to produce a tornado approached from the southwest.

This is part of a line of storms sweeping across western and middle Tennessee producing multiple tornado warnings, many of which carry the “particularly dangerous situation” designation from the NWS.

Many of these supercells are developing back to back, occurring over the same areas, such as Selmer, 90 miles east of Memphis. From roughly 1:15 a.m. C.T. until the current hour, this area has seen three supercells which were warned for tornadoes. Elsewhere multiple super cells are lining up southwest of Nashville.

Centerville, 60 miles southwest of Nashville, has seen multiple tornado warnings. Middle Tennessee remains under a tornado watch through 6 a.m. C.T.

The National Weather Service in Memphis issued a rare tornado emergency warning designation at 1:22 a.m. C.T. for an intense thunderstorm producing a tornado over the rural town of Slayden.

The storm was moving rapidly northeast at 50 mph through Hardeman County in Tennessee.

The tornado emergency warning designation indicates the damage threat could be catastrophic.

As of 1:39 a.m. C.T., the NWS lowered this to a particularly dangerous tornado warning. The storm remains dangerous and could produce considerable damage.

The NWS said it is a “life-threatening situation,” warning flying debris may be deadly to those caught without shelter and that mobile homes will be destroyed.

“Considerable damage to homes, businesses, and vehicles is likely and complete destruction is possible,” it added.

A powerful tornado swept through McCracken County, Kentucky, on Wednesday evening, destroying Christ Community Church, which briefly served as a shelter for three sheriff’s deputies before collapsing, authorities told CNN.

There have been no storm-related injuries reported in the county as of early Thursday morning, Ryan Norman, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office, said in a statement. The church’s pastor, Tim Turner, who also serves as a chaplain for the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office, was not injured.

“At least two houses were damaged in Reidland,” Norman said, adding that officials expect to uncover more damage when daylight reveals the full extent of the storm’s impact. One road remains closed as deputies and emergency workers continue clearing debris.

Christ Community Church, a well-known hub for community outreach programs, is located on Old Hinkleville Road just south of Barkley Regional Airport.

Emergency management officials are monitoring the situation as recovery efforts are underway.

A line of strong storms produced more than 200 reports of severe weather from the Ohio River Valley to the Ozarks through 11 p.m. E.T. Wednesday, according to the Storm Prediction Center. There were 19 reports of tornadoes scattered across Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri. Numbers could increase substantially from overnight activity.

The SPC reports four people were injured from a tornado that damaged multiple structures in the Gage community in Kentucky. In Advance, eastern Missouri, a tornado destroyed a home. In a nearby town, one person was found dead, though authorities cannot confirm whether that was linked to the storms.

The storms also produced 117 reports of wind damage, bringing down numerous trees and powerlines and damaging buildings across nine states. Two people were injured in Hartsburg, Illinois, when two semi tricks flipped on Highway 155. In Mill Grove, Indiana, one person was injured when a barn was blown into a house.

Some of the highest gusts reported include:

Eaton, Indiana: 100 mph

Orland, Indiana: 98 mph

Latham, Illinois: 90 mph

Lapel, Indiana: 87 mph

Homecroft, Indiana: 80 mph

There were 84 reports of hail, including 15 of hail larger than 2 inches in diameter. Some of the larger amounts include:

Baseball-sized hail in Ashland City, Tennessee, which blew out windshields, and similar-sized hail in Sandy Springs, Mississippi and Forrest City, Arkansas. Tennis ball-sized hail was reported in South Fork, Missouri.

Storms containing tornadoes continue to move eastward across the Ohio and Tennessee River Valleys, with tornado watches that will continue until 6 a.m. E.T.

The system producing the storms will effectively stall in many of the same areas and there is a level 3 out of 5 risk of more severe weather Thursday from the mid-Atlantic southwestward to Texas, impacting 79 million people. The region with the highest risk impacts 4 million people and includes Little Rock and Memphis.

One of the biggest threats these storms pose, beside tornadoes and hail, is torrential rain that could lead to catastrophic flooding.

In the wake of Wednesday’s storms, anywhere from 2 to 4 inches has fallen. The threatened rain over the next few days could lead to widespread flash flooding that the NWS categorized as “an event that happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime producing historic rainfall totals and impacts.”

A tornado watch is in effect for parts of northern Alabama, eastern Kentucky, northern Mississippi and central Tennessee until 6 a.m. C.T. Thursday, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

Nearly 6 million people are impacted by the watch, which includes Nashville, Tennessee, and Tupelo, Mississippi.

A line of strong-to-severe thunderstorms will move across the watch area overnight. Even though there may be an overall weakening trend of the storms, they still could produce tornadoes with locally damaging gusts of up to 75 miles per hour, and hail of up to 1.5 inches in diameter.

Currently, 14 million people are under tornado watches in the central US.

One person is confirmed dead in Cape Girardeau following severe storms, though circumstances remain unclear, the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) told CNN.

The MSHP said it cannot confirm whether the death was due to severe storm at the moment and more details will follow Thursday morning.

Three people were rescued from the partially collapsed warehouse in Brownsburg, Indiana, which was hit by a tornado Wednesday night, officials told CNN.

The collapse initially left two people missing and one trapped at the Sur La Table warehouse, Kamrick Holding, a spokesperson for the Brownsburg Fire Territory, said in a statement. The missing individuals were found by co-workers, with one transported to a trauma hospital in downtown Indianapolis, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast. Her condition remains undisclosed.

The tornado caused at least one wall of the warehouse to collapse, and burst ceiling pipes flooded the floor, CNN affiliate WISH-TV reported.

Four people who took shelter in a van were injured near a tornado-hit church in Ballard County, Kentucky, the local emergency management office said in a Facebook post.

One member of the group was left in critical condition.

“Four individuals sustained injuries when they attempted to take shelter in their vehicle under the carport of a church,” it said in the post.

A tornado tore through Carmel, Indiana, on Wednesday night, toppling a large radio tower downtown and ripping the front off a building, according to CNN affiliate WISH-TV.

Trees were uprooted from the saturated ground, and video shared by the outlet appeared to capture the storm in east Carmel.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning, while a tornado watch is in effect until 4 a.m. for southeastern Indiana, northern Kentucky and southwestern Ohio.

Several vehicles are submerged in high waters in eastern Indianapolis, the city’s police department said in a post on X.

No one was trapped in the vehicles but police warned drivers not to “put your vehicle or your life at risk by driving into water.”

Several roads in Indianapolis may still be flooded after tonight’s heavy storms, and police urged drivers to obey road closures and watch for hidden hazards such as debris in floodwaters.

“Turn Around, Don’t Drown. Never drive through floodwaters,” the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a separate post.

Here’s what happened Wednesday:

• Storms began in the morning but increased in coverage and intensity in the afternoon. A massive, “potentially dangerous situation” tornado watch was issued around 3 p.m. CT for parts of 7 states. More than 15 million people were under tornado watches in the central US by Wednesday evening.

• Oklahoma and Missouri were the first states to see the most dangerous storms, some with confirmed tornadoes. EF-1 tornado damage was done around Owasso, Oklahoma, and Potosi and Nevada, Missouri.

• Arkansas was next, and a storm there generated what was the most violent tornado of the night, devastating Lake City, Arkansas, and areas around it. The storm survey, which the NWS typically conducts the day after the storm, will likely find this tornado did EF-3+ damage.

• A meteorologist at CNN affiliate KFVS stayed on the air as a tornado tore through Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and talked his audience through the disaster, all while he and his colleagues sheltered as it passed over the station.

• As the night wore on, storms began to consolidate into a single line that threatened damaging straight-line winds and embedded tornadoes.

What’s in store for Thursday:

• Severe thunderstorms will dump gushing rain on parts of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys starting late Wednesday. It’s the first of many, many rounds of heavy rain to come for the region.

• More than 15 inches of torrential rain is possible by Saturday — especially in the corridor where Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee meet — and could cause life-threatening, once-in-a-lifetime flooding.

Radar gives us a clear view of the storm that produced a large and destructive tornado as it tracked through Bay and Lake City, Arkansas, earlier this evening.

From this view, the storm had an almost textbook look for a tornado-producing storm.

The fish hook-like area on the back end of the storm is called a“hook echo” and it’s a clear signal that this storm was incredibly powerful. A hook echo doesn’t always mean a tornado is in progress, but it sends a clear signal that forecasters need to pay close attention as one could form soon.

The hook forms when a storm has really strong, rotating winds that pull rain, hail and potentially other debris toward its center. The clear, wedge-shaped area that helps give the hook its shape shows where air is being sucked into the storm — like an intake. All of the rainy areas in front of and behind the storm, which show up as yellow, orange and red, are its downdrafts, or exhaust.

You can see the hook part of the storm tracking directly over Bay and then just northwest of the center of Lake City.