NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Deadly spring-like storms killed three people in Tennessee, three in Mississippi one in Arkansas before the worst passed last night.
A 22-year-old man was killed in Rhea County. His identity was not immediately released.
A married couple were also found dead after storms destroyed their Perry County home on Wednesday night.
The victims were identified as 70-year-old Antonio Yzaguirre and his 69-year-old wife, Annie. They had just celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary.
Meteorologist Bobby Boyd is with the National Weather Service in Nashville said the outbreak is among the worst ever for this time of year. “This is probably the worst tornado outbreak in December at least in the last half century.” He said. “I think we would have to go back to the first part of the 1900’s to find anything even close to this.”
Boyd said storm survey teams will fan out across the state today to determine the damage caused by tornadoes or straight line winds. He said the travel and survey will likely take most of the day.
*WKRN News 2 contributed to this report