Tornadoes leave 4 dead amid severe weather outbreak across southern U.S.

Multiple tornadoes touched down in the southern United States over the weekend, killing at least four people from Texas to North Carolina, amid a wintertime severe weather outbreak. As of January 2, at least 88 tornadoes have been confirmed.

Thunderstorms started to erupt early Saturday afternoon in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi and continued into Saturday night, racing east as day turned to night. One of the first tornadoes of the day was spotted in Katy, Texas, a western suburb of Houston.

A tornado that touched down near Katy, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (Danny Thigpen via Storyful)

"Listen, listen. Sounds like a train," one person said as they watched the twister from a distance.

Severe thunderstorms from Saturday to Saturday night were responsible for over 200 storm reports, including nearly four dozen tornadoes, as of the latest information available on Monday morning from the Storm Prediction Center.

A long-tracked storm southeast of Houston led to multiple tornado reports over the span of several hours, starting near the town of Liverpool, Texas, where officials confirmed one fatality and four injuries.

"A tornado touched down earlier in the area between Liverpool and Hillcrest Village," Brazoria County Sheriff's Office said in a post on Facebook. "Deputies remain on the scene and are actively responding to assist with public safety."

At least 40 homes and buildings were significantly damaged in the county.

In North Carolina, a 70-year-old man was killed Sunday in Statesville, just north of Charlotte, when a tree landed on top of the pickup truck he was driving, according to the Associated Press.

A radar image of the tornado-warned thunderstorm near Port Arthur, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AccuWeather)

At least two people were killed in Mississippi where multiple rounds of thunderstorms caused damage on Saturday afternoon into early Saturday night, including one large tornado that destroyed homes and toppled trees in McCall Creek, located around 60 miles southwest of Jackson.

An 18-year-old high school student in Natchez, Mississippi, died after a tree fell on a home, Adams County emergency officials said Saturday. Two others in the home were injured. Another person died in Lowndes County and at least eight more were injured across Mississippi. officials said.

Tornado survivors recalled the terrifying ordeal in the wake of the afternoon storms, saying they took shelter in the bathroom in their homes.

After peaking Saturday night, power outages were slowly dropping with minimal outages reported Monday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us.