Wicked spring storms batter central United States, killing four

A storm system that’s blamed for the death of a truck driver in Oklahoma barrelled eastward Wednesday, putting 17 million people in the central United States at risk for bad weather, forecasters said.

Three storm chasers also died Tuesday in a collision as they raced toward a tornado-warned storm in West Texas, authorities said.

The storms that struck Texas and Oklahoma late Tuesday brought tornadoes, tennis ball-sized hail and powerful winds, but no widespread damage was reported. It’s just the beginning of what’s expected to be a stormy week in Tornado Alley and in parts of the South.

The Storm Prediction Centre in Norman, Oklahoma, said an area stretching from Louisiana to central Missouri, including all of Arkansas, could see very large hail, strong tornadoes and powerful winds Wednesday. Earlier in the day, forecasters issued tornado warnings in Houston, though no substantial damage was reported.

Roofs and walls were ripped away early Wednesday from homes in Rockwall, northeast of Dallas, and the city’s mayor, Jim Pruitt, said one person suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Forecasters said the storms could intensify Thursday as the system moves past the Mississippi River.