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Millions Threatened With Severe Weather After Deadly Sunday Storms

Posted at 5:20 PM, Apr 28, 2014
and last updated 2014-04-28 17:20:23-04

(CNN, April 28, 2014) — Forecasters on Monday warned millions of Americans to be prepared for another round of severe storms, including widespread tornadoes, a day after storms killed 16 people in three states.

The storms Sunday in Oklahoma, Iowa and Arkansas were the opening act in a powerful system that threatened to bring intense tornadoes and large hail Monday to parts of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center warned Monday afternoon of a “particularly dangerous situation” for those areas, similar to urgent warnings issued ahead of the Sunday’s storms.

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Tupelo, Mississippi (Twitter photo)

By mid-afternoon Monday, forecasters declared a “tornado emergency” for three counties around Tupelo, Mississippi, after confirming a twister in that area.

“It’s going to be wave after wave of these storms, from what the forecasters tell us,” Mississippi Emergency Management spokesman Greg Flynn said.

Another twister was reported near Yazoo City, Mississippi, north of Jackson, but there was no immediate report of damage or injuries. Monday’s storms hit four years after an April 2010 tornado that killed four people in Yazoo City and 10 across the state, said Joey Ward, the city’s emergency management director.

“It’s still hopefully very fresh on people’s minds, and that they take all of the warnings that we’ve been putting out all day very seriously,” Ward said.

Heavy weather was forecast to stretch into the Midwest and Ohio River Valley, with much of Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky at a lesser risk of severe weather, forecasters said.

In Alabama, numerous school districts announced plans to dismiss early Monday afternoon in advance of the worst weather.

About 3 million people in the South and Midwest are under a moderate threat for severe weather Monday, CNN meteorologist Indra Petersons said. About 24 million are at slight risk of severe storms, she said.

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