Tornadoes Hitting Oklahoma on Tuesday

Tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma and Kansas on Tuesday, including at least one on the outskirts of Oklahoma City where initial damage reports included cars being tossed around Interstate 40.

The Weather Channel reported that the twister along I-40 was huge and possibly an EF5 — the strongest tornado category.

The National Weather Service reported one tornado touched down about two miles north of Canton, Okla.

Canton city employee Linda Hisell said police reported a twister moved through the area around Canton Lake, about 70 miles northwest of Oklahoma City. Hisell said police reported that some people were inside damaged homes.

In Caddo County, damage was reported near Lookeba but there were no immediate reports of injuries. Trees and power lines were down, but officials don't know about damage to homes.

In Fairview, Okla., a house and church were damaged by a severe storm.

Damaged buildings and vehicles were reported in Calumet, Okla.

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Storms Hit Alabama, Moving into Georgia

Five people were killed Wednesday as a wave of thunderstorms laced with tornadoes and winds blowing near hurricane force snapped trees, damaged buildings and left more than 260,000 without power across a wide area of Alabama, prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency.

State and local authorities reported two deaths in St. Clair County, northwest of Birmingham, one death in Jackson County bordering Tennessee and Georgia, and another person killed in Cullman County in northern Alabama. A fifth person was reported dead south of Birmingham in Jefferson County.

Mike Ashburn, assistant emergency management director for Jackson County, said the storm toppled so many trees across roadways that emergency responders were having trouble accessing neighborhoods with storm damage.

"You can't assess all the damage yet because you can't get through," Ashburn said. "You've got the fire departments and EMS clearing roads."

The storms are moving into Georgia and North Georgia is under a tornado watch until 2am Thursday morning.



Severe Weather to Hit Atlanta Today

The weather Wednesday night is expected to be horrific, frightening and dangerous as a severe storm is expected to race across the metro area at about 50 mph.

Glenn Burns, the chief meteorologist for Channel 2 Action News, said Tuesday evening the “significant tornado parameters” he’s been watching all day Tuesday are “off the scale.”

“When it’s a 1, it means tornadoes are possible. At 3, it means they are likely. Ours is 8 to 11,” Burns said. “All the parameters are there for tornadoes, damaging winds, hail, intense lightning. It very likely we will see some flooding in North Georgia.”

He said people should look for “super cell thunder storms.”

The weather will hit the state after 8 p.m. and metro Atlanta should be slammed around 11 p.m.

The strong storms that downed trees and power lines on Monday was just a precursor for Wednesday, Burns told The Atlanta Journal Constitution earlier Tuesday.

Forecasters at the National Weather Service were also sounding a warning for Wednesday, saying that a "major severe weather event" is expected.

The Weather Service said in a statement Tuesday that while damaging winds and isolated tornadoes are not completely out of the question across the northwest corner of the state early Wednesday, the "big show" will come later in the afternoon and evening, when "all parameters align almost perfectly for a major severe weather event."

Strong Storms Surprise Metro Atlanta

A severe storm system is heading for the Carolinas and Virginia in its sights late Tuesday after it slammed into metropolitan Atlanta, damaging dozens of homes and snarling the afternoon commute.

At least 56 homes and one business in suburban Gwinnett County, Georgia, were damaged by a possible tornado, police there said. Twelve of the residences suffered major damage.  Also some businesses are reporting damage.

There were no reported injuries.

Here's a link to a video on CBS Atlanta: http://www.cbsatlanta.com/local-video/index.html?grabnetworks_video_id=4442088