A powerful spring storm unleashed tornadoes across parts of the central United States on Wednesday and Thursday, leaving at least seven people dead as forecasters warned the unrelenting system will bring several more days of excessive rain that could trigger widespread life-threatening flash flooding.
"As has been said repeatedly for the last several days, this has the makings of a catastrophic, potentially historic heavy rainfall and flash flood event," the National Weather Service said in its latest forecast, warning that 15 inches of rain or more could fall in some areas.
"Persistent rounds of intense thunderstorms capable of producing torrential downpours" are likely, the weather service added. "Numerous instances of flash flooding can be expected."
'Once in a generation' storm
The excessive rain in the forecast could shatter records and lead to widespread flash flooding in parts of the lower Ohio Valley and mid-South.
It "is an event that happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime," the weather service said.
According to the NWS Weather Prediction Center, there is a high risk for excessive rainfall in multiple states, including Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas, with "widespread, life-threatening flash flooding" likely.
Flooding has already been seen in parts of Kentucky and Tennessee. In Nashville, the fire department said Thursday that it conducted more than a dozen water rescues.
The slow-moving front will remain stalled over the central and mid-South states through the weekend, dumping potentially historic amounts of rainfall across the region.
Up to 15 inches of rain or more is possible in some areas, forecasters said.
“It’s very unusual to forecast this much rainfall without a tropical storm or a hurricane," AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter said. "Some areas could receive intense rainfall rates of two inches an hour or more for an extended period, which can quickly trigger dangerous flash flooding.”
Deadly tornado outbreak
The system spawned dozens of reported tornadoes from Oklahoma to Indiana, leaving at least seven people dead and hundreds of thousands without power.
In Tennessee, at least five people in four separate counties were killed as violent storms and multiple tornadoes swept across the state. In hard-hit Selmer, entire neighborhoods were "completely wiped out," Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said at a news conference late Thursday,
In Missouri, the state highway patrol confirmed one weather-related fatality: a fire chief who died while trying to help a stranded motorist.
In Indiana, officials said a man who came into contact with downed power lines in Hendricks County was killed overnight. And two people were injured when part of the Sur La Table warehouse collapsed in Brownsburg, where emergency crews worked for several hours to free a trapped worker, according to the Associated Press.
In Kentucky, at least four people were injured when a church was hit by debris from a suspected tornado in Ballard County, officials said. Another tornado touched down Wednesday night around Jeffersontown, near Louisville, causing extensive damage to an industrial park.
In Arkansas, multiple tornadoes were confirmed amid widespread reports of damage. The state's division of emergency management said that at least 22 counties were reporting damage brought on by high winds, hail, tornadoes and flooding.
Many of the same areas could see strong thunderstorms on Friday, the weather service said, with some capable of producing strong to intense tornadoes and very large hail.