Atlanta under a severe thunderstorm watch
From CNN's Eric Zerkel
A line of potentially damaging storms moving through Georgia prompted the Storm Prediction Center to issue a severe thunderstorm watch for more than 7 million people in the state and South Carolina.
The watch includes Atlanta and warns of the potential for damaging winds up to 70 mph and quarter-sized hail. An isolated tornado is also possible, even though the primary threat is for damaging winds.
Storms with 60 mph winds were already triggering severe thunderstorm warnings to the west of Atlanta.
At least 19 dead after severe weather rips through 4 states
From CNN's Roxanne Garcia
Severe weather over the Memorial Day weekend has left at least 19 people dead across four states. At least eight deaths have been reported in Arkansas, seven in Texas, two in Oklahoma and two in Kentucky.
Some injuries have also been reported in areas hit by the severe weather.
More than120 millionpeople remain at risk of severe weather Monday, concentrated over the East Coast, where officials are urging people to take precautions.
Second storm-related death reported in Kentucky amid severe weather
From CNN’s Jillian Sykes
A second storm-related death was reported in Kentucky after a tree fell on a home in Mercer County, according to the county’s Emergency Management branch.
First responders were dispatched to the residence early Monday morning and were told there was a possible unresponsive person inside, the release says. The coroner called the death at the scene.
Another individual was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Mercer County is located roughly 70 miles southeast of Louisville, where anotherstorm-related deathwas reported on Sunday. Injuries due to the severe weather have also been reported in the state.
The deadly storm system has now killed at least 19 people in four states.
Some injuries and substantial damage reported in Kentucky after severe weather
From CNN’s Paradise Afshar
A few injuries and substantial damage are being reported in Hopkins County, Kentucky as a result of severe weather that struck the area Sunday night, according to officials.
Hopkins County Sheriff Matt Sanderson told CNN that the damage is concentrated in the Charleston and Barnsley areas of the county.
Hopkins County is located about 90 miles from Warren County, where Bowling Green is located.
The National Weather Service of Paducah, Kentucky is planning to send teams to regions of the state Monday to survey the damage caused by the storms.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. ET to address the storm damage and provide an update on the state's response, according to his spokesperson.
Severe storm threat shifts east on Memorial Day
From CNN's Robert Shackelford
Severe storms are ongoing across parts of the Southeast and Appalachian Mountains Monday morning, unloading damaging wind gusts, hail and potential tornadoes.
Areas from New York to Alabama are under a level 2 of 5 storm threat Monday, with a risk of damaging wind gusts, large hail and a few tornadoes. Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, DC, are most at risk for tornadoes.
Storms are expected to move through Atlanta by the end of the morning. By Monday afternoon, storms are expected to move through the Northeast and could impact major metropolitan areas like New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Baltimore.
Northeast cities, including Philadelphia and Baltimore, are under the heaviest rainfall threat, with 1 to 2 inches of rain per hour possible.
Central Alabama is under a severe thunderstorm watch through 10 a.m. ET Monday morning, with gusts up to 70 miles per hour, large hail and tornadoes are possible.
Survey teams to check tornado damage in Kentucky, says National Weather Service
From CNN staff
The National Weather Service of Paducah, Kentucky said it is planning to send at least two damage survey teams to survey tornado damage on Monday.
One of the teams will be surveying the damage along Calvert City to Greenville, while another will head from Goreville to the Lake of Egypt area into Saline County in Illinois.
It said it will take several days to survey all the areas impacted by storm damage,
At least one person died in Kentucky due to the severe weather, according to local authorities.
Phone lines down in hardest-hit parts of Kentucky due to severe weather, police say
From CNN’s Jillian Sykes
Phone lines were down Monday morning in parts of Kentucky that were hit hardest by severe weather over the weekend, according to a news release from Kentucky State Police that was obtained by CNN affiliateWNKY.
KSP Post 3, which serves several counties in the southern part of the state, reported their phone lines were down, and contingency phone lines had been established.
Bowling Green, a city in Warren County, is within the impacted area.
CNN has reached out to officials to get an update on the outages.
There were more than 200,000 customers in Kentucky without power as of 2:10 a.m. ET on Monday, according topoweroutage.us.
A lot of debris and areas hard to access in Arkansas, says American Red Cross
From CNN's Kathleen Magramo
Parts of northwest Arkansas were left with a lot of debris as severe storms hit the state, saidLori Arnold-Ellis, a spokesperson for the American Red Cross of Greater Arkansas.
Arnold-Ellis old CNN's Rosemary Churchthere were houses with roofsmissing, trees onhouses, and a lot of debrisin hard-hit areas.
"It was just adevastating thing to see,knowing that each one of thosehomes was representing a familywho lived there," she said.
Arnold-Ellis said the Red Cross was working to prioritize people's immediate needs and safety.
"We areopening shelters we are findingthe people who need help andwe're seeing how we can makesure that they've got a placeto stay tonight and they've gotsomething to eat," she said.
At least eight people were killed in Arkansas in severe weather, the highest toll among four states that reported deaths in the central United States.
Tornado strength is rated on the EF Scale. Here's what that means
From CNN's Madison Richardson
The National Weather Service rates the strength of tornadoes using theEnhanced Fujita (EF) Scale, which ranks tornadoes from 0 to 5 by assessing damage and determining wind speed.
Here's the damage associated with each level:
EF0: 65- to 85-mph wind gusts
These tornadoes are the least destructive and typically break tree branches, damage road signs and push over small, shallow-rooted trees.
EF1: 86- to 110-mph wind gusts
With similar wind speeds toweak hurricanes, these tornadoes can push moving cars off course, shift mobile homes from their foundations and remove roof surfaces.
EF2: 111- to 135-mph wind gusts
Significant damage starts to emerge from these tornadoes, which can snap or uproot trees, destroy mobile homes and tear roofs completely off homes.
They also can pick up small objects and turn them into dangerous projectiles.
EF3: 136- to 165-mph wind gusts
These tornadoes produce severe damage, uprooting nearly all trees in their path, blowing over large vehicles like trains and buses and significantly damaging buildings.
Less than 5% of all tornadoes are rated EF3 or higher.
EF4: 166- to 200-mph wind gusts
Easily destroying homes, tossing cars and downing large trees, these tornadoes can be devastating.
EF5: 200+-mph wind gusts
These monsters cause complete devastation, flattening nearly everything in their path.
They are rare, with only 59 have been recorded in the United States since 1950, according to theStorm Prediction Center.
