The National Weather Service issued dozens of tornado watches and warnings across several states including Alabama and Georgia, which received the brunt of the severe storms. At least 35 possible tornado touchdowns were reported across the Southeast, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said.

An EF2 – defined as a tornado with winds between 113 and 157 mph – was confirmed in Winston County, Alabama, weather service forecasters in Birmingham said Friday as storm surveys continued.

At least seven people died in central Alabama, where the weather service reported a “large and extremely dangerous tornado” Thursday that slammed into Selma and nearby areas, reducing homes and businesses to battered and shredded piles of debris.

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Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/01/13/alabama-georgia-tornado-updates-severe-weather/11045775002/

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An Isle of Palms resident clears the drain during Hurricane Dorian in South Carolina, USA on September 5, 2019. (AP)

Officials in the Bahamas say the country’s death toll from Hurricane Dorian has increased to 30.

Bahamian Health Minister Duane Sands told The Associated Press in a phone interview late on Thursday that he expects that number to be “significantly higher” in upcoming days as crews continue search and rescue missions.

Sands said the victims are from Grand Bahama and the Abaco Islands and includes those who were injured and airlifted to New Providence island.

Dorian hit the Abaco islands on Sunday as a Category 5 storm and then hovered over Grand Bahama for a day and a half as a Category 4 storm.

Floodwaters rise on Carolina’s streets 

Deserted, rain-lashed streets in Charleston, South Carolina, vanished beneath the water on Friday as Hurricane Dorian churned a few dozen miles offshore after reducing parts of the Bahamas to rubble.

Water pooled a few inches deep near the centuries-old waterfront.

In certain low-lying blocks, it rose to a foot or more, as high tide approached and forecasters warned of storm surges of up to 2 meters.

Officials said Thursday afternoon that more than 18 cm of rain had fallen in parts of Charleston.

Dorian was about 80 kilometres off Charleston on Thursday, wavering in strength between a Category 2 and 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson wind scale. It was forecast to possibly make landfall in North Carolina late Thursday or early Friday.

Life-threatening storm surges and dangerous winds were possible in much of the coast of South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, the National Weather Service said.

Dorian whipped up at least three tornados in the region, officials said. One in North Carolina damaged scores of trailers in a campground in Emerald Isle, but no one was injured, North Carolina’s News & Observer reported.

Governors in the region declared states of emergency, closed schools, opened shelters, readied national guard troops and implored residents to take warnings seriously, as fresh images of the devastation wrought by the storm in the Bahamas earlier this week continued to circulate in the media.

At least 70,000 Bahamians needed immediate humanitarian relief after Dorian became the most damaging storm ever to hit the island nation.

In the Carolinas alone, more than 900,000 people had been ordered to evacuate their homes.

It was unclear how many did so.

In Kill Devil Hills, in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Mark Jennings decided to ignore the order, lining his garage door with sandbags and boarding up his home with plywood.

The retired firefighter planned to stay put with his wife and two dogs: “We are ready to go. If something happens, we can still get out of here.”

At least four deaths in the US

At least four storm-related deaths have already been reported. Three people died in Orange County, Florida, during storm preparations or evacuation, according to the Orange County mayor’s office.

In North Carolina, an 85-year-old man fell off a ladder while barricading his home for Dorian, the governor said.

More than 210,000 homes and businesses were without power in South Carolina and Georgia early on Thursday, according to local electric companies.

On Charleston’s historic South Battery Street, which runs down to the harbor, Brys Stephens tried to keep the water away from his stately home, built in the veranda-wrapped Southern style that lures crowds of tourists to the city.

He and his family pumped water out of the yard and tried to reattach metal flood gates into the perimeter wall.

“The gates worked pretty well so far and we’ve managed to keep water away from the house,” Stephens said. “But we’ve got another storm surge coming later on, so we’ll see then if it holds.”

Source: https://www.trtworld.com/americas/hurricane-death-toll-in-bahamas-at-30-as-aid-begins-to-land-29561

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A tornado watch issued by the National Weather Service expired for most counties at 11 p.m., but will remain in effect for some eastern counties, including Edgecombe and Nash, until 3 a.m..

A tornado warning was issued for Vance and Warren counties Sunday night, but quickly expired.

A flash flood watch has been issued for multiple counties, including Wake, Cumberland, Chatham, Johnston, Durham and Orange, until 2 a.m.

“We are now seeing this as more of a flash flooding event than a severe weather event,” WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze said.

More than 3,000 power outages were reported in Cary and more than 2,000 were without power in Durham during the peak of the storm in the Triangle.

Many throughout the Triangle reported downed trees and flooding on area roadways.

Multiple trees and power lines were downed near the intersection of Edgemont Road and Sadie Drive in Wendell. The National Weather Service was investigating the potential of a tornado touchdown.

According to Maze, radar images were showing a “debris ball” in Guilford County, which is evidence that a tornado had touched down in the area.

Authorities said a state of emergency has been declared in Guilford County after at least one person died as a result of the weather. Authorities said the deceased person, who was not identified, died when a tree fell onto a car.

Photos from the scene showed trees in the middle of the road, roofs that had been ripped off houses and a mobile home had been lifted across the ground and blown across the street.

According to NBC affiliate WXII, confirmed tornadoes were reported in Danville and Chatham and thousands were without power as a result of the storm. Officials said dozens of power lines were down throughout the county.

Officials said many schools in Guilford County were without power Sunday night as a result of the storm and Hampton Elementary School was severely damaged.

All Guilford County schools will be closed Monday as a result of storm damage around the county.

“The recent severe weather in North Carolina has affected families and schools. This evening, I talked to Superintendent Contreras is Guilford County and assured her that we at the Department of Public Instruction will help in any way we can. We will be reaching out to other affected school districts Monday as well,” State Superintendent Mark Johnson said in a statement.

Crews in Greensboro will begin a full damage assessment Monday morning.

Check out a 1-hour loop view of radar from the Dual Doppler 5000

Monday will be calmer, but cooler, with a high around 60 degrees. Wednesday and Thursday will be the warmest days of the week, with highs in the upper 70s.

Source: http://www.wral.com/tornado-watch-issued-for-triangle-surrounding-areas-until-11-pm/17487977/

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