PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on deadly storm system that spawned tornadoes along the Gulf Coast (all times local):
3:15 p.m.
Authorities say two people have died after powerful storms ripped through eastern Virginia, raising the death toll from the tornadoes and severe weather to five.
Ron Messina, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, said the two people were killed in the town of Waverly on Wednesday.
Messina could not provide the victims’ identities or details about how they died. Three people were killed in Louisiana and Mississippi when tornadoes hit there Tuesday. Dozens of other people were injured.
The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning for an area in southeastern Virginia, with radar indicating a twister in Waverly.
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2:30 p.m.
Police are reporting storm damage in Sussex County in southeastern Virginia from a system that has ravaged the South.
State Police Sgt. Michele Anaya says troopers were called to assist local authorities Wednesday afternoon. She did not know the extent of the damage, exactly where it occurred or whether there were any injuries.
Anaya said she could not confirm a twister, although the county was under a tornado warning when the damage occurred.
Workers who answered the phone at the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office and the Waverly Fire Department said all first responders were out and nobody was available to provide information.
The storms killed three people in Louisiana and Mississippi on Tuesday.
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11:30 a.m.
The National Weather Service is investigating two distinct tornado paths that crossed through St. John the Baptist Parish in Louisiana.
Forecaster Robert Ricks says one of the paths takes a possible tornado over the western part of LaPlace, where as many as 200 homes were damaged late Tuesday afternoon. Only minor injuries were reported.
Officials said that many residents who lost homes during the storm were previously affected by Hurricane Isaac in August 2012.
To the west, a tornado ravaged an RV park in Convent, killing two people and injuring about 30 others. The storms killed another person in Mississippi and damaged about 100 homes in Pensacola, Florida.
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10:40 a.m.
A tangled wall of tree limbs and power lines partially blocked the entrance to The Moorings apartment complex in the Pensacola area.
Winds ripped off the top floors of two of the two-story buildings. A large oak tree fell on the side of one building and dozens of cars in the parking lot were smashed under a layer of wood, twisted metal, insulation and other debris.
Gov. Rick Scott and Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward toured the complex Wednesday morning, and talked to residents.
Angela Barrows is with the management company that owns the complex. She says they were fortunate more people weren’t hurt.
At least seven tornadoes hit Mississippi and Louisiana on Tuesday. Three people were killed and dozens of people were injured. Forecasters are warning of more tornadoes Wednesday.
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10 a.m.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott says an apparent tornado significantly damaged more than 70 homes and 24 apartments in the Pensacola area, leaving three people with minor injuries.
The rough weather ripped through Pensacola on Tuesday evening and Scott toured the affected areas on Wednesday morning. He stopped at The Moorings apartment complex, where winds whipped the roof off of at least two buildings.
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan says crews are working to restore power to more than 2,700 homes that are still without power.
Scott says that he plans to meet with victims of a tornado that left widespread damage in nearby Century last week. The governor says they’re working to allocate money from the state budget to help victims of both storms.
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8:05 a.m.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is expected to travel to Pensacola to view the damage caused by storms that hit the area.
Scott’s office says the governor will be in the Pensacola area Wednesday morning.
A possible tornado ripped through the city Tuesday evening, snapping trees, downing power lines and destroying at least 24 units at The Moorings apartment complex.
The National Weather Service was surveying the damage Wednesday to determine if it was caused by a tornado.
There have been no reports of injuries there.
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7:40 a.m.
Meteorologists at the national Storm Prediction Center are warning of the potential for more tornadoes — including some possibly strong twisters — in parts of the Atlantic coast, including the Carolinas and Virginia.
In a Wednesday morning briefing, forecaster Jaret Rogers said large hail and a few tornadoes are expected to develop over the region later Wednesday and Wednesday night. He said the storms may include some strong tornadoes.
Rogers said some of the larger metro areas at risk of severe weather include the North Carolina cities of Raleigh and Wake Forest.
The storms expected Wednesday are part of the same system that spawned tornadoes in Gulf Coast states Tuesday and killed at least three people in Louisiana and Mississippi.
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6:55 a.m.
A sheriff says an all-night search in the rear of a Louisiana RV park where a tornado hit found no additional injuries or fatalities.
St. James Parish Sheriff Willie Martin says three people are still missing and he hopes to locate them Wednesday.
He said 30 people were injured and seven are in critical condition.
Martin said in an interview on WVUE-TV that heavy equipment will be brought to the RV park to clear the road and move the damaged RVs.
When asked what was going on when he arrived at the scene he said: “It was chaos for the first hour.”
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6:20 a.m.
A possible tornado ripped through Pensacola, Florida, on Tuesday evening, destroying an apartment complex and downing trees and power lines.
National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Esbensen in Mobile, Alabama, told The Associated Press a team will survey the damage beginning at sunrise Wednesday to determine whether the storm was a tornado.
The Pensacola News Journal (http://on.pnj.com/1XMegZY) reports 24 units at The Moorings apartment complex were destroyed. No major injuries were reported.
Residents were being bused to a nearby shelter operated by the American Red Cross.
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6 a.m.
Red Cross volunteers are in the storm damaged areas of Louisiana and will be coordinating with local leaders.
According to a news release, Red Cross teams worked through the night at shelters in St. James and St. John the Baptist parishes and provided drinks and meals to first responders in Convent at an RV Park.
The Red Cross warns those returning to their damaged homes to watch out for fallen power lines and broken gas lines.
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5:50 a.m.
The sound of chain saws will be heard all over southeast Louisiana on Wednesday as residents begin the cleanup from a system of deadly storms that killed two in St. James Parish.
Authorities worked through the night searching an RV park for at least two people still missing. Two died at the park Tuesday and RVs were overturned and stacked on top of one another.
In St. John the Baptist Parish, dozens of homes were damaged on the west side of LaPlace. No one was injured.
Entergy reports more than 14,000 outages west of the New Orleans metro area. Over 9,000 are without power in St. John Parish, with 1,700 customers in the dark in Assumption Parish and Tangipahoa Parish has over 1,200 outages.
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3 a.m.
A deadly storm system that spawned tornadoes in Gulf Coast states Tuesday night is expected to bring severe weather to the Carolinas by Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities say the Tuesday storms mangled trailers at an RV park, ripped roofs from buildings and killed at least three people in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Police say two people were killed at a recreational vehicle park in the Louisiana town of Convent. St. James Parish Sheriff Willy Martin says authorities were working into the early morning to look for people possibly trapped under the debris there.
The Wednesday forecast for the Carolinas calls for possible flash flooding and severe thunderstorms, including damaging winds, hail and isolated tornadoes.
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