Destructive tornadoes rake across central US in rare 5 of 5 threat

Our live coverage of the storms impacting much of the central United States has moved here.

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.

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, 15 million people are under tornado watches, from Ohio to Mississippi.

This screengrab taken from a video shows damage at a warehouse in Brownsburg, Indiana, following Wednesday night's storm.

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.

This screengrab taken from a video shows what appears to be a tornado advancing across an open field in Lake City, Arkansas, on Wednesday.

There are reports of heavy damage, including to multiple homes, in Craighead County, northeastern Arkansas, after a dangerous tornado ripped through the area, according to county administrator Brandon Shrader.

The severe storms “impacted multiple cities within the county,” Shrader said, including Bay, Lake City, Monette, Cash and Bono.

Multiple houses were damaged in Monette and emergency responders assisted two people trapped in a home. Another person was injured due to a semi-truck rollover, the county administrator said.

Lake City suffered heavy damage, which is currently “unspecified” while damage assessments are ongoing, Shrader said.

There is no reported damage at this time in Cash or Bono, Shrader said. Bay has also not reported any damage “as of yet,” Shrader said, adding: “However, we can confirm a tornado touchdown on the outside of town.”

No deaths have been reported in the county due to the storm at this time, he added.

More than 200,000 customers are without power across Indiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Missouri, according to PowerOutage.US, as intense and violent tornadoes plow through the central US.

Here’s the breakdown of customers without power as of 11:16 p.m. E.T.

Separately, nearly 120,000 customers are without power in Michigan after being impacted by ice storms from the previous weekend.

One person is trapped in a Sur La Table warehouse after it partially collapsed in Brownsburg, Indiana, after a severe thunderstorm and possible tornado.

The Sur La Table facility “has significant structural damage with collapse” and police and fire crews are working to extract the trapped person, Brownsburg Police Department Capt. Jennifer Barrett said.

Photos from CNN affiliate WTHR show a large space with beams that appear to have fallen from the ceiling. Firefighters and other emergency personnel are at the scene.

Radar image captured at 10:45 p.m. EDT.

A violent line of severe thunderstorms is stretching nearly 700 miles from Arkansas to northern Indiana and Ohio.

These storms will continue to track east overnight and will deliver the threat of damaging winds, hail and tornadoes to more of the Ohio and Tennessee valleys. Major cities from Nashville to Cleveland could be in their path.

A few powerful storms could also develop very late tonight in parts of northern Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. These storms could also unleash hail, damaging winds and tornadoes.

Flash flood warnings are in effect for more than 1.4 million people in parts of six states as severe thunderstorms unleash torrential rain in the central US.

Large portions of Arkansas are under flash flood warnings as well as parts of Tennessee – including Memphis – Mississippi, Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois.

Flash flood warnings in effect as of 10:30 p.m. EDT.

Flooding will likely worsen and expand to new areas overnight as storms continue. Today is the start of a multi-day, potentially historic flood event for parts of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys.

A rare level 4 of 4 high risk of flooding rainfall is in place tomorrow for parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois, according to the Weather Prediction Center.

A tornado watch is in effect for southeast Indiana, north-central Kentucky and west and central Ohio until 4 a.m. E.T. Thursday, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

Ten million people are impacted by this watch, which includes Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland.

A line of intense thunderstorms over western Indiana is moving eastward into the watch area. It is expected to produce a few tornadoes, along with damaging wind gusts up to 75 mph and large hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter.

Currently, 23 million people are under tornado watches from Ohio to Texas.

A dangerous storm came so close to the National Weather Service office in Paducah, Kentucky, that the forecasters there had to practice what they preach and shelter in place.

Forecasters sheltered for about 15 minutes as a likely tornado passed just to the west.

The NWS in Davenport, Iowa, stepped in to serve as backup while the Paducah forecasters protected themselves.

NWS offices have protocols in place so life-saving information like severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings don’t stop going out when an office is under threat.

It’s only meant to be a short-term, emergency solution, but the Trump administration’s DOGE cuts could make it more permanent for some offices. Around 800 NOAA employees – including NWS forecasters – were abruptly laid off at the end of February, only for many to be reinstated and immediately placed on administrative leave until the legality of their firing is settled in the courts.

The loss of forecasters at an already understaffed agency could lead to some offices doubling up on life-saving work or providing frequent backup for critically understaffed offices.

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.

As a tornado was making its way through Cape Girardeau, Missouri, a meteorologist at CNN affiliate KFVS talked his audience through the disaster, all while he and his colleagues sheltered as it passed over the station.

As the tornado inched closed, chief meteorologist Grant Dade kept the radar up on air as they went into the basement to keep people up to date.

“I’ve never had to watch a tornado hit my house, hoping it’s not hitting my house,” he said, as he prepared to shelter.

While the scene outside the station wasn’t broadcast, Dade noted when the tornado passed, saying “It went right across us.”

“That was a little bit intense folks,” he said after making his way back to the camera. “I’ve never witnessed a wedge tornado come right into the station.”

He took a moment to text his family as he had “no idea the shape of my neighborhood.”

He kept talking the audience through what the radar showed until he finally heard back that his family was all right. “My family is OK and now I’m all yours,” Dade said as he continued the broadcast.

The station posted on its Facebook page everyone there was okay.

While full reports of damage are not in yet, the station said they were seeing reports of at least one house damaged.

Storm damage in Lake City, Arkansas, on Wednesday evening.

At least five houses and one power line are down after a tornado ripped through Lake City, Arkansas on Wednesday, Mayor Cameron Tate told CNN in a phone call.

The Arkansas Division of Emergency Management has confirmed “reports of tornadoes on the ground,” public information officer Lacey Kanipe told CNN.

“We are working with local emergency management offices for situational awareness and still learning of impacts as they come in. It’s early in the event and we will release more information about potential impacts as it becomes available,” Kanipe said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Radar image captured at 8:15 p.m. EDT.

The tornado threat has ramped up to the extreme in the lower Mississippi Valley tonight. A nearly unbroken line of tornado warnings is stretching over 200 miles from central Arkansas into southeast Missouri.

Multiple “large and extremely dangerous” tornadoes have impacted parts of eastern Arkansas in the past hour, according to the National Weather Service. One of these tornadoes triggered a rare tornado emergency.

This is the rare level 5 of 5 high risk of severe storms unfolding in real time. These dangerous storms are approaching some population centers – like Memphis, Tennessee – and will likely continue to produce tornadoes at least into the early overnight hours.

A tornado emergency is in effect for Lake City, Arkansas, as a “large and destructive tornado” moves through the area, according to the National Weather Service.

“This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. TAKE COVER NOW!” the NWS warned.

Tornado emergencies are the most extreme form of tornado warning. This tornado emergency is the fourth issued in the United States this year. The three others were issued during mid-March’s tornado outbreak.

It appears the tornado has already inflicted damage near Bay, Arkansas, as we’re seeing concerning radar signatures there. A so-called “debris ball” is showing up on radar, meaning that some sort of debris was tossed a few thousand feet in the air.

Homes and structures were completely damaged after a tornado touched down near Potosi, Missouri, on Wednesday.

A tornado destroyed homes and structures near Potosi, Missouri, on Wednesday, according to state troopers. There were no deaths and everyone was accounted for, some with minor injuries, the agency said.

Timbers from homes, overturned cars and farm equipment and debris littered the landscape in the aftermath of the tornado.

Potosi is located roughly 72 miles southwest of St. Louis.

Damage after the tornado in Potosi.

Farm equipment is affected by the tornado in Potosi.