U.S. weather forecasters warned of the threat of tornados in multiple states this weekend following at least five twisters in the state of Missouri on Friday.
Friday’s storms left some 100,000 buildings without power as severe weather continued into the night.
The tornado risk was expected to continue into the weekend in a slew of states including Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. Accuweather predicted the storm risk to peak from Saturday afternoon to Saturday night.
The National Weather Service warned of heavy thunderstorms from the Midwest to the Mississippi Valley, bringing with them the chance of flash flooding, power outages, downed trees and travel disruptions.
In Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey issued a state of emergency on Friday, extending into Sunday. In her proclamation, she said “this severe weather could cause significant damage to public and private property and poses a danger to the health and safety of the people of Alabama, including potential disruption of essential utility systems, personal injury and loss of life.”
The proclamation means the state National Guard will be on alert and could be activated.
Missouri also declared a state of emergency.
Forecasters expect the thunderstorms to swamp the South and move toward the East Coast on Saturday night into Sunday. Although the tornado threat is expected to decrease, the East Coast will likely face hail and potentially damaging wind gusts.
The storm system is expected to move off into the Atlantic Ocean sometime Sunday night into Monday.
