The tornadoes that razed parts of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi on Wednesday will extend into the South on Thursday and will begin to head for Carolinas, Georgia and a section of Virginia, officials warned.
Storms, tornadoes and hail are expected to hit central eastern Georgia, northeastern South Carolina, southern North Carolina and the southeastern tip of Virginia, according to the National Weather Service.
“All serious dangers are possible,” said the Meteorological Service. Twenty-six million people were at risk.
Severe storms were also possible on the eastern Gulf coast in the southern and central Appalachians.
“Review your safety procedures in severe weather for the possibility of dangerous weather today,” the Meteorological Service said in a statement. “If a tornado alert is issued for your area, go to a safe location, preferably in a basement or indoor room on the lower floor of a sturdy building.”
Early Thursday, there were no storm warnings in the entire metropolitan area of Atlanta, but intense lightning, heavy rain and strong gusts of up to 40-50 mph were moving through the area.
Morehouse College in Atlanta tweeted that he was delaying the opening of his campus to 11 am and that the faculty and staff should not be arriving before that time. All classes before that should be taught virtually, he said.
In South Carolina, the severe climate threat prompted the president of the state Senate to warn senators to do state residency on Thursday, while urging the team to work remotely for their safety. House Speaker Jay Lucas said the chamber would meet for less than an hour on Thursday.
“If you are in a situation where it is dangerous to come, I am asking you not to come,” said Lucas. “If you can come, give us a quorum and do those few things that we need to do, we will get out of here in a hurry.”
Almost all of South Carolina is at moderate risk of severe storms. The forecast caused several state school systems to cancel face-to-face classes on Thursday and make students and teachers meet online.
Nearly two dozen tornadoes damaged homes and uprooted trees in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi on Wednesday.
Major vaccination clinics, where hundreds of people an hour can get vaccines without leaving their vehicles, have been canceled in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. In Mississippi’s capital, Jackson, civil servants have been told to head for the stairs if they hear the weather sirens. Near Birmingham, job organizers canceled an outdoor event at an Amazon facility where workers are voting for union representation.
Although no deaths were reported, two people injured in Clarke County, Alabama, where three houses were damaged and one completely destroyed, the Weather Service reported.
