Tornadoes rip through the US with ‘once in a lifetime’ flood warning issued

Tornadoes and heavy rain have destroyed large parts of central and southern United States, flattening homes and businesses.

Around 15 tornadoes have been recorded across states including Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi.

At least four people have been killed, while cars have been flipped over and trees ripped apart.

Footage by Fox News shows the scary moment a tornado tore across the road right in front of a storm tracker vehicle.

Another video shows a tornado slowly moving across fields in Arkansas.

Meanwhile, four people were injured while taking shelter in a vehicle under a church carport in Kentucky.

Forecasters from the National Weather Service have warned that people in the four states could expect ‘once in a lifetime’ flooding.

There are warnings that more than a foot of rain could fall in these states over the coming days.

The weather service told people living in Arkansas: ‘This is a life threatening situation. Seek shelter now.’

It added there will be ‘significant, life-threatening flash flooding’, with ‘historic rainfall totals and impacts possible.’

The weather service also warned that Wednesday is just ‘the beginning of a multi-day catastrophic and potentially historic heavy rainfall event.’

‘The word for tonight is “chaotic,”‘ said Scott Kleebauer, a NWS meteorologist. ‘This is a large expanse of storms migrating slowly to the east, stretching from southeast Michigan down into southeastern Arkansas.’

Some of the roads in Tennessee are full of debris, with people across large parts of the state warned not to use them.

Chelly Amin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said: ‘It’s definitely going to be a really horrible situation here come sunrise in the morning in those areas, coming out of Arkansas.’

Meanwhile in Missouri, the state’s Emergency Management Agency said it caused ‘major damage to several businesses, power poles were snapped and several (empty) train cars were flipped onto their sides by the powerful storm!’.

In other states including Indiana, 81mph winds have caused widespread power outages and damage to roads.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.