A severe storm swept through northwest Arkansas on Wednesday morning, damaging buildings and causing power outages. The forecast for the Deep South was also indicating tornadoes or hurricane-force winds. It comes one week after the New Orleans twister.

The storms, which were expected to cause tornadoes around 4 am in Springdale, and nearby Johnson about 145-miles (235km) northeast of Little Rock, did not result in any deaths.

KFSM TV reported extensive damage to Springdale including to a school gymnasium as well as a warehouse. Springdale School District is Arkansas’s largest, and it cancelled all classes on Wednesday.

John Luther, Washington County Emergency Management Director, stated that “we have some residential buildings as well as commercial buildings” and was referring to severe storm damage.

He stated that seven people had been injured and two of them were critically. However, he did not have any additional details.

Joe Sellers, National Weather Service Meteorologist, Tulsa (OK) said that investigators would be going to the region to evaluate the extent of the damage. Sellers confirmed that the tornado was indeed a tornado. However, it wasn’t yet confirmed by the Weather Service.

Through Wednesday afternoon, tornado watches were in effect for Arkansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Southern Missouri and southeastern Oklahoma.

Oklahoma’s Storm Prediction Center said Wednesday that all of Mississippi and portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee and Mississippi were at highest risk from severe weather. This area includes Memphis, Tennessee, Baton Rouge and Louisiana, Jackson, Mississippi, Montgomery, Alabama, as well as the surrounding cities.

Mississippi schools have closed dozens of classes early and offered online classes Wednesday to prevent children from being incrowded places or riding on buses.

Stephen McCraney from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency stated that some individuals may not be affected by the weather today, while others might experience one of life’s worst days,” in a briefing.

In Mississippi, officials opened safe areas for those who were worried about being unable to leave their homes during Hurricane Ida. Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Louisiana advised residents who live in trailers or temporary housing after Hurricane Ida that they should be alerted and knew where to go in the event of an emergency.

In the afternoon, it was predicted that we would experience severe weather. One man was killed last week when a tornado struck in New Orleans’s neighborhood during the night hours.