Some families may be welcoming the New Year with mourning after a severe thunderstorm and tornadoes swept across the South, which left four dead.
A report by NBC News revealed that the deaths were spread across different counties, and the immediate and direct causes of the fatalities were likewise varied.
Two deaths resulted from fallen trees from the weather disturbances, while the cause for other two cannot be ascertained.
In Adams County, 18-year-old Tykeria Rogers died after a tree fell on her home, Adams County Emergency Management revealed. In Iredell County, North Carolina, there was also another death that resulted from a tree falling on a vehicle, which killed a man on Landis Highway.
In a separate case, another death was reported to have happened in Lowndes County, Mississippi. In Brazoria County, Texas, another death was reported.
Reports also revealed that the storms on Saturday led to more than two dozen preliminary confirmed tornadoes. Areas hit by the tornadoes include Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Accordingly, the tornadoes left structural damage.
The National Weather Service has already revealed the initial estimates for the different tornadoes that hit Texas on Saturday. In the Porter Heights area of Montgomery County, a scale of 0.5, a severe vortex was estimated to have reached EF3, with a probable sustained wind of at least 136mph. The highest rate would be at EF5.
Aside from the Porter Area, another tornado with a rating of EF3 was at Highway 124 in Chambers County. On the ground, it found an EF2 damage. However, it was not ascertained whether it came from the same tornado.
In Brazoria County, the weather service detected a vortex that spun for almost nine miles in the ground. It was a preliminary EF2, which indicates the strength of the tornado. The weather service reported a death albeit, there were no specific number of people who were injured.
While there were a number of strong tornadoes, there were also reported weaker ones. There were EFO and EF1 tornadoes recorded in Galveston County. EF1 tornadoes would need sustained winds of at least 86 mph and touched down in Bayshore Park.
In Lamar County, Alabama, there was another EF1 tornado.
According to ABC News, between Saturday and Sunday afternoon, there were 38 twisters that were reported, particularly in Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas.
Surveys are still ongoing and there will be more storm surveys that will be conducted in other counties.
Meanwhile, rain is expected in Philadelphia and New York City early morning on Monday, but it will likely be gone by sunrise. Boston, however, is expected to have a rainy morning.
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