Severe weather threatens millions in South with floods, tornadoes in latest forecast

Potent storms on Monday began to lash the southern United States with heavy rain and wind, leading to school closures and power outages throughout the Gulf Coast region, where some communities were still reeling from deadly floods and tornadoes.

Nearly 13 million people from south-central Texas to the Florida Panhandle were under enhanced risk of severe weather threats, including flash floods, hail, high winds and possible tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center. San Antonio and Austin in Texas, Baton Rouge in Louisiana, Mobile in Alabama, and Tallahassee in Florida, were among the cities most at risk of dangerous storm conditions, the weather service said.

In anticipation of the storms, school districts in Florida, Mississippi and other Gulf Coast states announced early dismissals and school closures. A tornado watches have been issued for counties across the Florida Panhandle and are set to expire at 7 p.m.

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Tens of thousands of homes and businesses across the Gulf Coast were without power on Monday as worsening weather conditions began to pick up and communities pushed ahead with recovery efforts following last week's storm damage. In Florida, more than 20,000 were without power, with the majority of outages reported in Tallahassee, according to a USA TODAY outages tracker. Across southern Mississippi and southwestern Alabama, over 40,000 outages were reported.

A screen shot of the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center forecast shows much of the Gulf Coast region is expected to be hit by severe thunderstorms on Monday, raising concerns over flooding, hail and possible tornadoes.

High waterways, soaked ground raises threat of flooding

The fierce weather conditions comes on the heels of several weeks of devastating storms in the region. Earlier this month, storms triggered flash floods across southeastern Texas, leading to the death of a 4-year-old boy and hundreds of rescues. Up to 20 inches of rain has fallen in eastern Texas since the start of the month, according to AccuWeather.

Last week, Gulf Coast states were pummeled by powerful storms that spun up tornadoes, dropped tennis-ball-sized hail and flooded parts of the region. Tallahassee saw its most storm damage in years after a trio of tornadoes tore through the state capital, uprooting trees, damaging buildings and claiming the life of a 47-year-old woman. Several injuries in Alabama were tied to tornadoes that ripped across the state last week, including one with winds as high as 140 mph.

The already saturated ground raised concerns over flooding as many waterways are at or near flood stage. The weather service in Jackson, Mississippi, said 3-5 inches of rain, with higher amounts possible, is anticipated to fall Monday and into Tuesday. Forecasters expect 3-4 inches of rain to fall in Lucedale, Louisiana, and Pensacola, Florida.

"This amount of rain alone is enough to trigger new small stream and low-lying area flooding and reverse recession along the secondary rivers,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. “And, with additional rounds of rain coming this week and next weekend, the situation could get very serious."

Meteorologists say the low pressure system will bringing thunderstorms across much of the eastern U.S. through the midweek before it's expected to move off the coast on Wednesday, according to the weather service.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Severe weather threatens millions in South with floods, tornadoes in latest forecast