By Michael Phillis, Corey Williams and John Hanna, Associated Press
ST. Louis, mo. (AP) – At least four people died and others were injured after serious storms, including a possible tornado swept through Saint -Louis.
Friday afternoon, the storms ripped roofs from certain buildings, snatched bricks from the coating and trees and electric lines slaughtered while the residents were invited to cover themselves.
The mayor of St. Louis, Cara Spencer, confirmed the deaths.
At Centennial Christian Church, the battalion of the firefighters of the city of St. Louis, William Pollihan, told the Associated Press that three people were to be saved after part of the church collapsed. One of these people died.
The National Weather Service radar said that a tornado had approached between 2:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. in Clayton, Missouri, in the St. Louis region. He received damage reports, mainly slaughtered trees, the meteorologist of the Marshall Pfahler weather services.
The Apparent Tornado approached in the Forest Park district, which houses the St. Louis zoo and the World Fair and Olympic Games in 1904 the same year, Pfahler said.
Police did not wait any trip and said on social networks that the first stakeholders were called to areas damaged by storm.
“If you don’t have to travel, please stay at home,” said the Metropolitan police department of St. Louis in the post.
The St. Louis zoo published a message on X, the messaging platform formerly known as Twitter, that it would remain closed for the rest of the day because of the weather. The message did not include any information on damage, a zoo spokesperson did not immediately send a telephone message asking for comments.
“We cannot permanently say whether or not it was a tornado – that was probably the case,” said Pfahler.
Radar also confirmed a tornado above Venice, Illinois, around 2:50 p.m. CDT. It could be accompanied by hail the size of a golf ball, said the National Weather Service to St. Louis. Venice is northeast of Saint-Louis, just opposite the Mississippi river.
The meteorological service described the tornado as “extremely dangerous” and moving east to 50 mph. The tornado is part of a severe meteorological system that caused the tornadoes in the Wisconsin, slaughtered trees, left thousands of people without power in the Great Lakes region and brought a punitive heat wave to Texas.
Appalachia and Midwest face a danger
The meteorological forecastists warned that violent storms with hail and even the wind -up winds could hinder parts of the Appalachians and the Midwest on Friday. Tornades were also a risk.
The National Weather Service said that residents of Kentucky, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, parts of Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas and Ohio should prepare for intense storms that could include hail with the size of baseball.
The prediction center for the storm of meteorological service said that “strong and potentially long tornadoes and a very large hail” could be expected. The threat to damage the winds by more than 75 MPH increases this evening as storms become larger bunches.
Before the early storm on Friday evening, Appalachian Power, which serves 1 million customers in Virginia-Western, Virginia and Tennessee, said on Friday that he had asked 1,700 additional workers in neighboring public services as well as sending his own crews from unconnected areas to help the restoration of services.
The governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear, in an article on the X social media platform, put residents in notice.
“Kentucky, there is a dangerous meteorological system moving in our state with an important tour this afternoon until this evening. Strong winds, hail, floods and tornadoes are possible from 2 p.m. CT in western Kentucky and reaching Louisville around 5 pm,” he said.
The shelters opened in the Paducah region, Kentucky.
Faith Borden, a meteorologist at the national nashville meteor -service office, said on Friday that the world of Tennessee could expect “all types of violent time. Vernit up to 70 mph. We are talking about a very large hail up to 3 inches, which is for us a big hail. ”
Texas struck by heat waves
Texas, on the other hand, faced burning heat. A heat notice was issued for the San Antonio and Austin, with temperatures at a 95 F clinking to 105. Parts of the south-eastern coast, from Virginia to Florida, fought with heat in the 90s.
The National Weather Service Office for Austin / San Antonio said on Friday that the humidity to come over the weekend should make temperatures warmer.
“There are concerns of heat exhaustion for people who do not take appropriate precautions when they are outside,” said meteorologist Jason Runyen. He advised people affected to take breaks and stay hydrated.
On Thursday overnight, storms accompanied by booming thunder, lightning difficulties and powerful winds swept parts from Wisconsin, Illinois, northern Indiana and Michigan – leaving dozens of trees and thousands of houses without electricity.
Several tornadoes discussed Thursday in the center of the Wisconsin. None of the Twisters have yet received ratings, Timm Uhlmann, a Meator Service Meteorologist in Green Bay, told Timm Uhlmann.
“We are still gathering reports,” said Uhlmann. “We assess some of the damage and we always get videos and images. The damage we have is quite widespread. There was a lot of significant hail. With clear water, a hail ratio the size of a softball. ”
No injury has been reported.
Investigations were also underway on Friday of damage in Michigan to determine if tornadoes took place, said Steven Freitag, meteorologist of the National Weather Service in White Lake Township, northwest of Detroit.
The storms were fed by temperatures in the 80s lowering from Illinois in Michigan and were activated by a cold front, said Freitag.
Friday at noon, around 230,000 customers were without electricity in Michigan. It is estimated that 60,000 were without power in Indiana. 27,000 others in total had no electricity in Illinois and Kentucky.
The threat of violent time in Chicago delayed a Beyonce concert of about two hours Thursday at Soldier Field.
The writer Associated Press Haya Panjwani in Washington and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed to this story.
Originally published:
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