Tornadoes in Texas and Mississippi kill 2, injure 6 as severe weather system moves east

HOUSTON (AP) – At least two people were killed and six more injured when multiple tornadoes touched down in Texas and Mississippi on Saturday, damaging homes and overturning vehicles as the storm system moved east across Alabama early Sunday.

The National Weather Service’s severe storms tracker indicated the system was moving east through Alabama into Georgia shortly before 1 p.m. 4. The agency issued severe thunderstorm warnings with the possibility of tornadoes in western Georgia and the northwestern tip of Florida directly over the Gulf of Mexico.

One person died in the Liverpool area, which is south of Houston, and four people suffered injuries that were not considered critical, according to Madison Polston of the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office.

There were “several touchdown points” in the county between Liverpool, Hillcrest Village and Alvin. Officials knew of about 10 damaged homes but were working to determine the extent of the damage, Polston said.

In Mississippi, one person died in Adams County and two people were injured in Franklin County, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

The National Weather Service said two tornadoes touched down around Bude and the town of Brandon, tearing the roofs off several buildings.

“These storms are likely to get much worse tonight and overnight the further east you go,” said Josh Lichter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

At least six tornadoes appeared to have touched down in the Houston area, though they may find there were more as crews go out to survey the damage, and there was damage in the area from both tornadoes and straight-line winds , Litcher said.

North of Houston, mobile homes were damaged or destroyed in Katy and Porter Heights, where the doors of a fire station were blown in, the weather service said.

The storms also caused departure delays of more than an hour Saturday afternoon at Houston’s two main airports, Bush Intercontinental and Hobby, according to the website FlightAware.

About 71,000 utility customers were without power in Mississippi Saturday, and that number was expected to rise, said Malary White, chief communications officer for the state’s Emergency Management Agency.

As of 3:30 a.m. Sunday, nearly 81,000 customers were without power in the state, down from 93,000 around 1 a.m., according to the electrical tracking website PowerOutage.us.

The Emergency Management Agency did not have official damage reports on Saturday. First responders were focused on ensuring safety and making sure everyone was taken care of, White said.

“We expect more thorough damage assessments starting in the early morning hours,” she said.

The National Weather Service office in Birmingham, Alabama, issued severe thunderstorm warnings overnight for several areas in the southern part of the state and advised residents to take shelter to avoid possible damaging winds of up to 60 mph (96.5 km/ h).