Photography
Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.
Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean/via REUTERS
May 9 | Columbia, Tenn.
Ryan Whitten pets his two dogs after looking at his damaged home after severe weather and tornadoes hit the area. Whitten is missing his third dog named, Dash, and two cats.
Mark Zaleski/The Tennessean
Mark Zaleski/The Tennessean
May 9 | Columbia, Tenn.
Utility workers repair a TVA tower.
George Walker IV/AP
George Walker IV/AP
May 9 | Columbia, Tenn.
A storm damaged car is seen along Blackburn Road.
George Walker IV/AP
George Walker IV/AP
May 9 | Columbia, Tenn.
A storm damaged home is seen along Blackburn Lane.
George Walker IV/AP
George Walker IV/AP
May 9 | Columbia, Tenn.
Valerie Bernhardt looks through debris at her stormed damaged home.
George Walker IV/AP
George Walker IV/AP
May 9 | Columbia, Tenn.
A storm damaged house.
George Walker IV/AP
George Walker IV/AP
May 9 | Columbia, Tenn.
A Maury County Sheriff’s Deputy searches through a storm damaged home.
George Walker IV/AP
George Walker IV/AP
Deadly tornadoes and severe thunderstorms erupted Wednesday across a wide swath of the eastern United States, causing damage in at least a dozen states from Missouri to the Carolinas. The most intense storms tore through the area from the Ozarks to Middle Tennessee that evening, producing multiple strong tornadoes, large hail, damaging straight-line winds and flooding rain.
George Walker IV/AP
The Associated Press reported at least three storm-related deaths from the outbreak. Trees falling on cars killed a man in northeastern Tennessee and another person in western North Carolina. A third person was killed as a powerful tornado tore through Middle Tennessee.
George Walker IV/AP
May 8 | Columbia, Tenn.
Utility workers survey storm damage.
George Walker IV/AP
George Walker IV/AP
May 8 | Columbia, Tenn.
Emergency crews crowd Cranford Hollow Road after severe storms tore through the area.
George Walker IV/AP
George Walker IV/AP
May 8 | Columbia, Tenn.
Residents work to remove downed trees after the storm.
George Walker IV/AP
George Walker IV/AP
May 8 | Columbia, Tenn.
A utility truck passes damaged trees.
George Walker IV/AP
George Walker IV/AP
Tornadoes swept through southern Michigan on Tuesday, causing destruction in the city of Portage — where employees were temporarily trapped inside a FedEx facility — and damaging a mobile home park in Kalamazoo, where a resident described “carnage … like something out of a movie.”
George Walker IV/AP
May 8 | Kalamazoo, Mich.
Elly Douglas collects belongings and assesses damage after a tornado tore through her home.
Emily Elconin/Reuters
Emily Elconin/Reuters
May 8 | Kalamazoo, Mich.
A mobile home at Pavilion Estates that was destroyed.
Joey Cappelletti/AP
Joey Cappelletti/AP
May 8 | Kalamazoo, Mich.
A mobile home that flipped onto two cars during the tornado there.
Joey Cappelletti/AP
Joey Cappelletti/AP
May 8 | Kalamazoo, Mich.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks during a news conference during a visit to the Pavilion Estates mobile home park.
Emily Elconin/Reuters
Emily Elconin/Reuters
May 8 | Kalamazoo, Mich.
A man looks at a destroyed mobile home at Pavilion Estates.
Emily Elconin/Reuters
Emily Elconin/Reuters
May 8 | Kalamazoo, Mich.
Another destroyed home at Pavilion Estates.
Emily Elconin/Reuters
Emily Elconin/Reuters
May 8 | Kalamazoo, Mich.
Two cars that were crushed by a mobile home.
Emily Elconin/Reuters
Emily Elconin/Reuters
May 8 | Portage, Mich.
A resident walks past downed electrical lines after a tornado hit the area.
Emily Elconin/Reuters
Emily Elconin/Reuters
May 8 | Portage, Mich.
The tornado uprooted a tree and sidewalk in front of a church.
Emily Elconin/Reuters
Emily Elconin/Reuters
May 8 | Portage, Mich.
A worker repairs a roof that was damaged by the tornado.
Emily Elconin/Reuters
Emily Elconin/Reuters
May 7 | Kalamazoo, Mich.
Damage from the tornado that hit Pavilion Estates.
Vanessa Perkins
Vanessa Perkins
May 7 | Portage, Mich.
A FedEx facility that was damaged by the tornado that touched down in the area.
Brad Devereaux/Kalamazoo Gazette/AP
Brad Devereaux/Kalamazoo Gazette/AP
May 7 | Portage, Mich.
Employees were temporarily trapped inside the FedEx facility
Brad Devereaux/Kalamazoo Gazette/AP
Brad Devereaux/Kalamazoo Gazette/AP
A large, destructive tornado tore through the cities of Barnsdall and Bartlesville in northeastern Oklahoma on Monday night, as dangerous storms swept across the Plains.
Brad Devereaux/Kalamazoo Gazette/AP
One person died in Barnsdall, a city of about 1,000 people roughly 30 miles north of Tulsa, Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden told local media. The sheriff’s office was still looking for at least one missing person Tuesday afternoon.
Brad Devereaux/Kalamazoo Gazette/AP
May 8 | Barnsdall, Okla.
Family members take a break from looking for belongings after their house was destroyed by a tornado.
Adam Davis/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Adam Davis/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
May 8 | Barnsdall, Okla.
An aerial view of a home that got destroyed by the tornado.
Adam Davis/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Adam Davis/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
May 8 | Barnsdall, Okla.
A local uses a tractor to clear debris from a house that was destroyed by the tornado.
Adam Davis/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Adam Davis/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
May 8 | Barnsdall, Okla.
A house that was destroyed.
Adam Davis/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Adam Davis/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
An Oklahoma state highway patrol trooper searches through storm damage.
Mike Simons/Tulsa World/AP
Mike Simons/Tulsa World/AP
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
A man sifts through his belongings after a tornado hit overnight.
Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post
Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
Debris scattered throughout a neighborhood.
Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post
Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
A girl steps over a downed utility line as her family sifts through debris following the tornado.
Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post
Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
The National Weather Service received reports of at least 17 tornadoes Monday night, including at least eight in Oklahoma, but the twister activity was generally less intense than feared.
Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post
Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
Zack Crowder views his damaged home.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
Tommy Lang works to recover items from his father’s home.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
The interior of Barnsdall Nursing Home after the tornado.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
A door got lodged in a tree by the tornado.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
Monday marked the first of four days in which the Weather Service predicts an elevated threat of dangerous storms that could produce tornadoes as well as large hail and damaging winds.
Mike Simons/Tulsa World/AP
Mike Simons/Tulsa World/AP
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
Joy King walks around her home that was damaged in the storm.
Sarah Phipps/Oklahoman/Reuters
Sarah Phipps/Oklahoman/Reuters
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
As daylight broke Tuesday, images on social media revealed devastation in Barnsdall. Many homes and businesses were flattened, trees were mangled and defoliated, and vehicles flipped and crushed.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
The Weather Service was surveying the storm damage Tuesday to determine the tornado’s exact size and intensity. It found “low end EF4 damage” on the 0-to-5 Enhanced Fujita scale for tornado intensity, meaning the storm’s winds reached at least 166 mph in Barnsdall.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
Members of the Crowder family work together to recover lost items after their home was struck.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
Damaged and destroyed belongings sit in a yard after the storm.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
Diana Miller sits on her porch after her home was destroyed.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
Paden Fincher looks to salvage items from what’s left of his sister’s home.
Mike Simons/Tulsa World/AP
Mike Simons/Tulsa World/AP
May 7 | Barnsdall, Okla.
People pray for Billy Moles, left, after his home was destroyed in the storm. For Barnsdall, it was the second tornado to hit in just over a month. On April 1, an EF1 tornado on the 0-to-5 scale for intensity caused damage in the city.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
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Photo editing and production by Stephen Cook and Troy Witcher