CHARLESTON (United States): Severe thunderstorms spawned a tornado that flattened homes in Tennessee and triggered widespread flooding, leaving at least three people dead in Kentucky and Arkansas.

The system that stretched from Texas to the Canadian maritime provinces on Sunday had prompted emergency declarations a day earlier in Missouri, Indiana and Illinois.

In south central Kentucky, the body of a male was recovered from a vehicle submerged in floodwaters in a creek near the community of Franklin on Saturday, the Simpson County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The victim’s identify was being withheld pending notification of relatives.

About 32km away, Dallas Jane Combs, 79, died after a suspected tornado destroyed her Adairville home earlier Saturday, the Logan County Sheriff’s Office told media outlets. Sheriff officials said Combs was inside the home when it collapsed on her. Combs was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities said Combs’ husband was outside putting up plastic to keep rain out of the home when he was blown into the basement area. He sustained minor injuries.

In northeast Arkansas, an 83-year-old man was killed after high winds toppled a trailer home. Clay County Sheriff Terry Miller told KAIT-TV that Albert Foster died Saturday night after the home was blown into a pond.

About 80km away, the National Weather Service said the roof was blown off a hotel in Osceola, about 257km north of Memphis, Tennessee.

In Middle Tennessee, the National Weather Service on Sunday confirmed an EF-2 tornado with maximum winds of 120mph hit Clarksville on Saturday.

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Sandra Brandon said at least four homes were destroyed and dozens of others were damaged, while 75 cars at a tire plant parking lot had their windows blown out or were tossed onto one other.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2018