Officials recorded 225 tornadoes for the first seven days of May -- already a record number and the total continues to rise. More than 40 people have been killed in the non-stop storms.

Forecasters said the violent storms were the result of a low-pressure system moving up from the southwest, mixing a lot of heat and moisture in the atmosphere. Areas that could be affected Thursday evening include eastern and central Kansas, western Missouri, northern Oklahoma and northern Arkansas.

Many of those areas sustained major damage when tornadoes ripped through earlier this week.

The death toll climbed higher Thursday morning when one person was killed in Georgia as floodwaters covered streets and delayed school openings.

The Troup County sheriff's department said high water swept a car off a road about 7:45 a.m. EDT, killing the driver. The incident occurred less than an hour after the sheriff's department banned all traffic in the county except for emergency vehicles.

Later in the afternoon, two tornadoes swooped down near Denver International Airport as severe thunderstorms barreled through the area. There were no reports of injuries and no damage was reported at the airport.

In Chattanooga, Tennessee, school closings stretched into their third day Thursday with some 60 roads closed because of flooding.

 

 

 

Leon Harris: Weather still threatens tornado-hit area

CNN's Leon Harris spent Tuesday morning in Jackson, Tennessee, where 11 people died. He talked to anchor Heidi Collins about the situation in the town.

There is extensive damage through what used to be the center of downtown Jackson. This is pretty much the way this entire two- or three-square block area looks like.

Much of life around here is going to be at a standstill for some time to come.

The rain is expected to keep falling here for at least the next two to three days, according to local reports. There's already a number of reports I've heard of extensive flooding in the region. More flash flood watches will be in effect for some time to come. As a matter of fact, we're in the middle of a tornado watch, which will be in effect for at least another 45 to 50 minutes or so. And I've got to tell you, there's been pretty ugly-looking clouds rolling through here.

That may complicate matters for officials who plan on coming in here and taking an aerial tour. From what we hear, Gov. Phil Bredesen and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, as well as the mayor, plan on coming through here and taking a tour of the area to get an assessment by helicopter. I don't know if they'll be able to do that today. The FEMA director's going to be traveling with them.

In the last reports that we've gotten, as many as 1,600 structures across this area are either totally wiped out or damaged in some way. The death toll right now is standing at 14 for the state -- seven on one road alone here in Madison County.

Today was supposed to be election day for Jackson, Tennessee, for the mayor. That's not going to happen.

But the amazing thing is when you see things like this, you see the vagaries of what happens in a tornado. You see all of this destruction. Well, right next to us ... is the memorial that was set up to remember those who died in the tornadoes that struck this area back in 1998. Six people died then. [There is] no damage whatsoever in that spot, and that's maybe 20 feet away.