Weather, Mississippi | featured news

A destructive storm system draped itself across half the country Thursday, from the Gulf Coast to Canada and with a wingspan from Maine to the Dakotas.

Emergency officials in Mississippi are assessing damage after a tornado ripped through a populated area near the University of Southern Mississippi.

A storm system that dumped up to a foot of rain in parts of Louisiana, causing isolated flash flooding, is now threatening to spawn tornadoes there and in Mississippi.

A strong storm system that produced several possible tornadoes hit the Southeast on Wednesday, damaging dozens of homes and buildings. At least four people were killed and more than a dozen others were injured. Suspected tornadoes were reported in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina, and thousands of people were without power as trees and power lines were downed.

Tropical Storm Lee has strengthened as it begins dumping rain in southern Louisiana and pelting the northern Gulf coast. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center say that Lee’s maximum sustained winds had increased to 60 miles per hour (95 kph) Saturday morning. The storm’s center is located about 45 miles southwest of New Iberia and was moving north-northwest at 7 mph (11 kph).

Mississippi state officials expect to evacuate 2,000 to 5,000 people in coming days. In Louisiana, more spill gates are opened to divert floodwater.

Memphis area residents were warned on Saturday that they should not be fooled by sunny skies because the Mississippi River was gradually starting to "wrap its arms" around the city and rise to record levels.

Authorities ordered more evacuations near the Mississippi and Ohio rivers as flood waters continued to surge early Friday, drenching farmlands, highways and homes.

An engorged Mississippi river spilled out onto huge swaths of farmland in the American South and Midwest on Wednesday, prompting massive flooding from Minnesota to Louisiana.

This heat wave isn't just stifling -- it's deadly. Extreme temperatures continued Thursday across a large swath of the country, killing more than a dozen people, at least two police dogs and likely contributing to the death of Franklin the rhinoceros at a Mississippi zoo. Arkansas fire departments were volunteering to hose down overheated cattle, and people as far north as Maine were trying to stay cool.