2 dead, 3 injured in weather event with tornadoes officials in Tennessee say

WARTBURG, Tenn. — (AP) — Two people were killed in eastern Tennessee when two tornadoes moved through the region, local officials said Friday.

A mother and daughter from the same household were killed when the storm passed through the Deer Lodge and Sunbright areas of Morgan County on Thursday night, according to a social media post by the county emergency management agency.

Three other injuries were also reported, officials said.

Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers were on site Friday morning helping to secure structures that were damaged or destroyed, Capt. Stacey Heatherly said in an email. Officials didn't believe anyone was still missing, Heatherly said.

Preliminary storm surveys released midday Friday determined that two tornados hit the region on Thursday, the National Weather Service office in Morristown said. The tornado in Deer Lodge in Morgan County had maximum winds of 135 mph (217 kph) and was rated as an EF2, which is considered “significant” on the Enhanced Fujita scale. The tornado in Thorn Hill in Grainger County had maximum winds of 115 mph (185 kph) and received an EF1 rating.

Gov. Bill Lee said in a statement Friday that he and wife, Maria, were praying for those impacted by the storm and that he would visit the rural community later that day.

“Please join Maria and me in lifting our neighboring Tennesseans up in prayer as response teams help survivors,” Lee posted on social media.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said on social media that troopers were in Morgan County ensuring resident safety and assessing and helping with structure damage.

The Morgan County School District said on its website that schools would be closed Friday because of “significant damage from tornadoes in parts of our county.”

Additionally, the storm downed trees and damaged several structures in the Thorn Hill area of Grainger County, but there were no injuries or deaths there, county Emergency Management Director Jeffrey Atkins said by telephone.

Officials with the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency added that other counties impacted by the storm include Fentress, Jackson, Overton, Putnam and Sevier. Meanwhile, officials continued to warn of possible extreme weather throughout the South on Friday, with flood warnings being issued in Arkansas, Kentucky and West Virginia.

Meanwhile, communities in Kentucky and West Virginia continued to clean up from flooding in low-lying areas caused by severe thunderstorms Thursday. Some creeks and rivers remained slightly above flood stage Friday.

Thursday's storm comes almost a year after a fatal tornado touched down in northeast Tennessee that included Morgan County. The tornado damaged a funeral home and a house in the town of Sunbright.

Emergency officials have repeatedly said that Tennessee experiences more tornadoes at night than any other state in the U.S. This makes it difficult to warn the public, which likely is asleep and can’t see the storms coming.

According to the National Weather Service, Tennessee experienced 19 tornadoes last year that resulted in one death. In 2023, Tennessee saw 40 tornadoes that resulted in 17 deaths. While the majority of Tennessee's tornado activity takes place in the spring, it's not unusual for the number of tornadoes to start increasing in February.

Meanwhile, snow hit New England roads hard, with more than 60 crashes reported on Maine highways. Maine State Police had not reported serious injuries as of Thursday night. But the arrival of some of the worst snow during the commuting hour made for treacherous roads throughout the state.

Roads in other states were also snarled. A tractor-trailer overturned on the Massachusetts Turnpike, snarling traffic in that state.

The New England states were getting ready for a potential repeat this weekend, as an even stronger storm was expected to arrive late Saturday into Sunday.