A massive winter storm spawned several tornadoes, leaving buildings destroyed and several people injured, and caused widespread disruption across much of the United States.
Emergency services, including sheriff’s deputies, firefighters, volunteers and dog teams, were searching for debris after a tornado touched down about 10 miles from Shreveport, Louisiana, on Tuesday.
The Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office said two people were missing, one was injured and several buildings were destroyed.
Officials said they were now focusing their search on finding the missing people after the tornado swept through Four Forts.
“I hope they are with family somewhere,” Sergeant Casey Jones said.
There were no immediate reports of deaths.
Blizzard Alerts
photo: AP
Far to the northwest, an area stretching from Montana to western Nebraska and Colorado was under blizzard warning, and the National Weather Service said some areas of western South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska were possible up to 0.6m of snow.
Ice and sleet were expected on the eastern Great Plains.
Forecasters expect the storm system to limp the upper Midwest with ice, rain and snow for days, as well as move into northeastern and central Appalachia.
Residents from West Virginia to Vermont were also told to watch out for a possible significant mix of snow, ice and sleet, and the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning Wednesday evening through Friday afternoon.
The severe weather threat continues Wednesday for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma.
In the South, a series of thunderstorms brought tornadoes, damaging winds, hail and heavy rain to north Texas and Oklahoma in the early morning hours, National Weather Service meteorologist Tom Bradshaw said.
Tornado damage in Grapevine, Texas. photo: AP
Late flights
Authorities on Tuesday reported dozens of homes and businesses damaged and several people injured in the suburbs and counties extending north of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
A tornado warning prompted Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to issue a “shelter-in-place” order Tuesday morning, asking passengers to move away from the windows, the airport announced on Twitter.
More than 1,000 flights into and out of area airports have been delayed and more than 100 have been cancelled, according to tracking service FlightAware.
In nearby Grapevine, police spokeswoman Amanda McNew reported five confirmed injuries.
“We are starting the process of traversing the city by looking at damage to property, businesses, homes and then roads,” he said.
Images showed downed power lines on rain-soaked roads, as well as downed trees, damaged buildings and a trailer that appeared to have been tossed into a parking lot.
Tornado damage in Grapevine, Texas. photo: AP
Cleaning up wreckage in Oklahoma. photo: AP
Roads closed
Meanwhile, a tornado damaged the city of Wayne, Oklahoma shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday.
There was widespread damage but no deaths or injuries.
Roads were closed throughout northeastern Colorado. photo: AP
Trees have been felled in Oklahoma. photo: AP
In parts of Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota, power outages, tree damage, falling branches and dangerous travel conditions threatened the region.
“There’s basically nobody traveling right now,” said Justin McCallum, a manager at the Flying J truck stop in Ogallala, Nebraska.
In Colorado, all roads have been closed in the northeast quadrant of the state.
