Current:Home > InvestSome Gulf Coast states schools, government offices close for severe weather, possible tornadoes-LoTradeCoin
Some Gulf Coast states schools, government offices close for severe weather, possible tornadoes
View Date:2024-12-24 07:09:58
Schools and government offices were closed Wednesday in some Gulf Coast states, where severe storms were expected to bring the potential for tornadoes and devastating wind gusts.
Severe thunderstorms were expected across parts of the Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle and there was the potential for tornadoes, a few of which may be strong, and damaging winds, which may exceed 75 mph (120 kph), the National Weather Service warned.
Heavy rain, tornadoes, hail and damaging wind gusts were all possible across the Gulf Coast and the Deep South on Wednesday, according to meteorologist Ashton Robinson Cook with the NWS Weather Prediction Center.
In Texas, several people were rescued from homes and vehicles Wednesday morning when flooding inundated parts of Jasper County, near the Louisiana line, authorities said.
“The City of Kirbyville remains under water and is still the major concern at this time,” the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office said on social media.
All major roads into Kirbyville, a town of about 2,000 people, were shut down early Wednesday due to the flooding, the sheriff’s office said.
In Louisiana, state office buildings closed Wednesday since the storms were expected to blast the state during rush hour, the governor’s office announced. They also asked drivers to limit travel if possible and warned that high winds were expected to affect large trucks.
One of the nation’s largest universities – Louisiana State University – announced its campus would close Wednesday due to “the developing severe weather situation.” Residence halls were remaining open.
As the workday began Wednesday morning in Louisiana, more than 100,000 customers were already without power, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide. Another 30,000 customers were without power in Mississippi.
A vigorous storm system that developed across the southern Rockies and moisture moving across the Gulf of Mexico combined to produce a series of thunderstorms from Texas’ south plains and panhandle eastward across Louisiana and Mississippi, Robinson Cook said.
There was hail in central Texas on Tuesday and radar estimates of up to a foot of rainfall over the past 24 hours, with heavier totals just northwest of Lake Charles, Louisiana, Robinson Cook said.
veryGood! (62892)
Related
- Firefighters make progress, but Southern California wildfire rages on
- RFK Jr. faces steep hurdles and high costs to get on ballot in all 50 states
- Cambodia welcomes the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s plan to return looted antiquities
- EU releasing 5 billion euros to Poland by year’s end as new government works to restore rule of law
- Voters in California city reject measure allowing noncitizens to vote in local races
- What econ says in the shadows
- How Eagles' Christmas album morphed from wild idea to hit record
- Lawyers for Atlanta ask federal appeals court to kill ‘Stop Cop City’ petition seeking referendum
- Wall Street makes wagers on the likely winners and losers in a second Trump term
- UN peacekeeping chief welcomes strong support for its far-flung operations despite `headwinds’
Ranking
- Threat closes Spokane City Hall and cancels council meeting in Washington state
- Plane crashes and catches fire on North Carolina highway with 2 people escaping serious injuries
- The West supports Ukraine against Russia’s aggression. So why is funding its defense in question?
- Retriever raising pack of African painted dog pups at Indiana zoo after parents ignored them
- 2 dead in explosion at Kentucky factory that also damaged surrounding neighborhood
- Mother of Virginia 6-year-old who shot a teacher due for sentencing on child neglect
- Georgia woman pleads guilty to stealing millions from Facebook to fund 'lavish lifestyle'
- The Biden Administration’s Scaled-Back Lease Proposal For Atlantic Offshore Wind Projects Prompts Questions, Criticism
Recommendation
-
Florida State can't afford to fire Mike Norvell -- and can't afford to keep him
-
Michigan woman found guilty of murder and child abuse in starvation death of son
-
One last Hanukkah gift from Hallmark: 'Round and Round' is a really fun romcom
-
Comedian Kenny DeForest Dead at 37 After Bike Accident in NYC
-
2 Florida women charged after shooting death of photographer is livestreamed
-
This organization fulfills holiday wish lists for kids in foster care – and keeps sending them gifts when they age out of the system
-
The $10 billion charity no one has heard of
-
What's the best dog breed? Survey shows each state's favorite type of pup