Severe storms pummel the Gulf Coast with winds, rain, possible tornadoes: 'It was so scary'

A powerful storm system unleashed a barrage of severe weather conditions across the Gulf Coast on Wednesday, knocking out power, damaging buildings and shuttering schools.

Throughout the morning, the National Weather Service reported multiple possible tornadoes across southern Louisiana, where a powerful squall line with 80-mph winds was moving east over the state. More than 180,000 homes and businesses were without power Wednesday morning throughout Louisiana, according to a USA TODAY’s database. Across Texas and Mississippi, over 90,000 utility customers reported power outages.

Monica Hernandez Melancon and her husband got a tornado warning on their phones around 6:30 a.m., just as the rain and wind picked up in Sunset, Louisiana, about 70 miles west of Baton Rouge. The 60-year-old gathered their two Yorkies – Ceci and Lily – as their trailer began to tremble. Curled up in a corner, she began to pray.

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“It was so scary,” she told USA TODAY. “You can hardly see anything because the rain was so dense and everything was shaking.”

After about 20 minutes, she and her husband emerged from the trailer to find several trees knocked down across their 40-acre property, where they have hundreds of chickens, pigs, hens and lambs. Their farm was not damaged and none of the animals were hurt. Melancon said in her decades living in different parts of Louisiana, she’s never experienced such a ferocious storm.

Several school districts in Louisiana and Mississippi held classes virtually or canceled sessions altogether. The Louisiana Division of Administration shuttered state office buildings on Wednesday, and officials asked “all drivers to limit driving on the roads between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.,” according to a statement from Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry.

Meteorologists anticipated that as the day continued, damaging hail, wind and possible tornadoes would slam Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, according to the National Weather Service. Thunderstorms could dump around 2 to 4 inches of rain over much of the same area, and up through southwestern Georgia.

“Ensure you know where you would take shelter no matter where your day takes you,” the weather service warned.

Attendees of the Taste of Mississippi event wait in line in the rain in Jackson, Miss., on April 8, 2024.

Storm damages homes in Texas, Arkansas

The severe weather began on Monday and led Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to deploy emergency response resources to areas of the state badly impacted by the storms. On Tuesday, the governor said he had deployed additional resources throughout the state.

Hail the size of quarters and ping pongs was reported in eastern Texas, Tennessee and Arkansas on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. Powerful wind gusts reportedly toppled power lines and uprooted trees. In Pulaski County, Arkansas, 80-90 mph wind gusts damaged several homes. In Houston, a house and a barn had their roofs blown off by strong winds.

Louisiana weather map

Storm heads to Midwest, East Coast

The low-pressure system is forecast to intensify, expand and track toward the Northeast throughout the rest of the week, and moderate to heavy rainfall will engulf much of the eastern U.S., including the mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes, Midwest and Ohio Valley regions by Thursday.

The Carolinas, northern Florida and the mid-Atlantic region will see the greatest threat of damaging wind gusts, the weather service said. Heavy rain and potential scattered flash flooding may occur from the southern Appalachians to the northern mid-Atlantic.

Meteorologists say thunderstorms should exit the Southeast by Friday morning as a potent cold front is forecast to sweep across the country from the West Coast.

US weather watches and warnings

National weather radar

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Severe storms pummel the Gulf Coast with winds, rain, possible tornadoes: ‘It was so scary’