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At least 5 dead after days of powerful storms in parts of the US

Posted at 10:52 AM, Apr 21, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-21 10:52:03-04

The powerful storms that ripped through parts of the United States last week killed at least five people in Mississippi, Florida and Alabama, officials said.

Mississippi reported an additional death Saturday, bringing the total number to three in that state, the emergency management agency said. It said 16 confirmed tornadoes hit the state Thursday.

In Alabama and Florida, one person was killed in each state when trees fell on homes. The victims included an 8-year-old in Florida, officials said.

Dozens of reports of tornadoes

After a week of pounding the South and Mid-Atlantic states, the storm will move into New England on Sunday, the National Weather Service said.

There were more than 250 wind reports and 11 tornado reports Friday from Florida to Virginia, CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward said. That makes 38 tornado reports and nearly 500 wind reports from the Texas panhandle to the East Coast over a three-day period.

But the threat of severe weather is over. All severe weather warnings have expired and higher temperatures will begin to warm the region by Sunday.

While the weather threat is over, there will be travel delays through much of the Northeast.

The victims

Most of the victims died in car crashes or when trees hit homes.

In Mississippi, Kenderick Magee, 24, was killed when his car crashed during severe weather in Amite County on Thursday. A second unidentified driver was killed the same day when a car hit a tree in Neshoba County. The third death was reported Saturday in Lincoln County, but authorities did not provide additional details.

Mississippi was just beginning to recover from last weekend's storm system that left one county in shreds, killed one person, and injured nine people across the state.

In neighboring Alabama, one person died after a tree fell on a home, emergency management director Patrice Kurzejeski told CNN.

And in Florida, an 8-year-old was killed Friday when a tree fell through a home in Woodville, just south of Tallahassee, the Leon County Sheriff's office said.