Alabama, Mississippi brace for ‘violent’ tornado threat

A major storm is hitting Alabama and Mississippi, as well as parts of Tennessee and Georgia, where “violent” “long track” tornadoes are possible through Thursday night.

“Severe” means tornado winds can be 166 mph or more, with EF-4 or EF-5 ratings. These tornadoes are often “long track” which means they can be on the ground for at least 25 miles.

The highest risk is found in eastern Mississippi and northern Alabama.

A tornado was confirmed at 12:30 p.m. local time near Moundville, Alabama, outside Tuscaloosa – the same location hit by a tornado eight days ago.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey declared a state of emergency for 46 counties and announced that the health department had postponed its Alabama National Guard vaccination clinic in Hale County to because of the storm.

In Mississippi, more than two dozen people fled to an elementary school in Lowndes County before the inclement weather. Two other schools, each accommodating around 400 people, are also open as shelters, the Lowndes County emergency management director told ABC News.

All shelters provide hand sanitizer and masks, build social distancing, and check people’s temperatures.

Several series of intense thunderstorms are also expected in the afternoon and evening in eastern Mississippi, northern Alabama and much of Tennessee, from Nashville to Knoxville.

Damaging winds are expected, particularly in Tennessee and Kentucky. Wind gusts could reach 80 mph and very large hail is possible.

At midnight, storms with damaging wind gusts will move through Atlanta and parts of the mid-Atlantic and the Ohio Valley.

Storms could also bring heavy downpours, so people should be aware of possible flash floods.

ABC News’s Elwyn Lopez contributed to this report.