South and Midwest brace for more historic rains and severe flooding in deadly multiday storm system

A deadly multiday storm system that has unleashed tornadoes and heavy rainfall will continue to batter the Midwest and the mid-South on Friday, in what forecasters describe as a “catastrophic and potentially historic flash flood event.”

The storm system has already wreaked havoc across multiple states, spawning devastating tornadoes in Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri that left homes in piles of debris and led to downpours triggering severe flooding in multiple states. At least seven people are dead and more than a dozen more are injured.

According to PowerOutage.Us, more than 116,000 customers across the country were without power Friday morning, and communities in multiple states are waking up to severe storm damage.

The National Weather Service warned that the system’s stalling front boundary will lead to life-threatening flash flooding and significant storms from the Ohio Valley to the mid-South and the Arkansas-Louisiana-Texas area through the weekend. 

Deep moisture from the system will create “persistent rounds of intense thunderstorms” leading to “significant to extreme, potentially historic, rainfall totals over increasingly saturated soils,” the weather service said in a morning advisory.

High risks of excessive rainfall could continue through Sunday morning in what the weather service has called “an increasingly dangerous and life-threatening situation.”

On Friday, 25 million people are at risk for severe storms from southern Texas to southern Indiana. Further, 34 million people remain under flood watches from northeastern Texas to northern Ohio, and nearly the entire state of Kentucky is under flash flood warnings. 

Waters in the Midwest and the Southeast have been rising overnight, overwhelming cars, flooding homes and making roads impassable.

Memphis has reported 6.91 inches of rain since Wednesday, 3.86 inches were clocked in Jackson, Tennessee, and 3.74 inches in Hot Springs, Arkansas. 

On Friday, at least two rounds of rain soaked parts of Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, with the heaviest rain still to come. 

The 36-hour period between Friday evening and Sunday morning will be the most dangerous as an additional 6 to 12 inches of rain will fall over already drenched areas. 

A lull in the deluge could lead people to let their guard down, but forecasters caution the public to prepare for the next round of flooding.

A high risk for flooding is in effect through Friday for Arkansas into southern Missouri. The cities most likely to experience flooding are Little Rock, Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Paducah, Kentucky; and Evansville, Indiana. 

It comes as many communities are already reeling from the storm damage with little respite in sight.

In Selmer, Tennessee, an EF-3 tornado on Thursday leveled homes, flipped cars and pulled trees from the ground. Gov. Bill Lee called the damage across the state “total devastation.”

In Arkansas, a massive twister, also an EF-3, in Lake City on Thursday reduced some areas to rubble.

NBC’s Al Roker forecasts that some tornadoes are possible overnight, with enhanced risk from Paducah, Kentucky, down through Arkansas and into Tyler, Texas. Today’s severe storm impacts include likely tornadoes, damaging hail up to 2 inches in diameter or larger, and possible wind gusts up to 60 mph. 

Come Saturday, the high-risk area for flooding will be larger, covering Arkansas into western Kentucky. Cities most likely to experience flooding from Saturday into Sunday morning include Little Rock and Jonesboro, Arkansas; Memphis, Poplar Bluff, Missouri; Paducah, Kentucky; and Evansville, Indiana. Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee, are at a moderate risk for flooding.

Saturday’s highest tornado threat is in Louisiana and Arkansas, and by Sunday, the severest part of the storm system will weaken, with storms and flooding from Atlanta to New Orleans. 

Overall, the risk of life-threatening, potentially historic flash flooding lasts through Sunday. The highest risk is also from Paducah, Kentucky, down to Texarkana, Texas, with the threat of another 10 inches of rain that has already fallen.