Communities Brace for Flooding as Storm Moves Across Central U.S.

A storm bringing torrential rain, dozens of tornadoes and dangerous flooding has swept across the central United States for days, and is expected to continue battering the region on Saturday, forecasters say.

Officials are preparing for rain, high winds, hail and potential flash flooding from East Texas and Louisiana up through the Ohio Valley to southwestern Pennsylvania, according to the Weather Prediction Center.

The storm has already wreaked havoc across those regions, killing at least eight people, including a 9-year-old boy who was swept away by floodwaters in Frankfort, Ky. The heaviest rain so far, which has caused dangerous flooding, mostly fell in Arkansas and southern Missouri. Recovery efforts have been stunted in some areas by the weather, which may taper off through Sunday.

On Saturday, western Tennessee, southeastern Arkansas, western Mississippi and Louisiana will face severe risk from the storm.

“Folks are going to have the potential for really all modes of severe weather, from tornadoes to damaging straight-line winds, up to large hail,” said Scott Unger, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Nashville. At times, the hail could be as large as golf balls, he said, with severe weather potentially lasting well into Saturday night.

The National Weather Service also warned of life-threatening flash flooding across the region and urged people to turn around if they came across washed-out roads, adding that most flood deaths occurred in vehicles.

Cities across the storm’s path, which include Little Rock, Ark.; Jackson, Miss.; and Memphis, are bracing for the worst. Mayor Craig Greenberg of Louisville, Ky., said in a news release that he expected the Ohio River to rise about 30 feet. Officials in St. Louis County, Mo., said that part of Interstate 44 would most likely be underwater by Sunday. Officials in Paducah, Ky., said they were installing floodgates and getting more pump stations.

While the looming rains were worrisome, people in affected areas were contending with the damage that had already been done. On Friday, Sydney Metz, a Nashville resident and a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, was mostly concerned about how to get to her classes and her part-time job next week, because her car was waterlogged and wouldn’t start.

“Our yard completely flooded,” she said on Friday. “Just a whole rushing river.”

In New Madrid, Mo., Nick White, the mayor, said on Friday that the weekend storm could bring one of the most severe floods in the history of the city, which lies on the Mississippi River. He was preparing the city for a substantial rise in the river.

“We’ve got backup generators, we’ve got a backup pump,” Mr. White said, adding, “We’ve been really proactive versus reactive.”

The death toll climbed throughout Friday. At least five were killed in Tennessee, including a teenage girl. A man was killed in Danville, Ind., after coming into contact with downed power lines. Garry Moore, a fire chief in Whitewater, Mo., was killed on Wednesday responding to tornado damage.

Frank Pereira, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said on Friday morning that the heaviest rain had fallen throughout Friday and would continue through the first half of Saturday.

Severe thunderstorms are also possible on Saturday, extending into the Gulf Coast areas of Texas and Louisiana.

Jamie McGee, Carly Gist, Mitch Smith and Jonathan Wolfe contributed reporting.