17-year-old girl killed in Tallahassee tornado outbreak, marks storm's 2nd known death
A 17-year-old girl was killed in a severe storm system that spawned tornadoes and triple-digit winds last Friday in North Florida, authorities said Thursday, marking the second confirmed weather-related death in the state.
The State Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the victim died in Leon County, where the state capital Tallahassee is located. Officials did not release her name or circumstances surrounding her death, according to The Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network.
The Democrat reported it was alerted about the teen's death by a reader, who said she was badly injured when a tree fell on her in a wooded area and that she later died.
On Wednesday the Democrat reported the death of the other storm victim, 47-year-old Carolyn Benton, who died last week when a tree crashed onto her mobile home in that same county,
'It's coming right for us':Video shows golfers scramble as tornado bears down in Missouri
Tree fell on woman about 4 miles east of downtown Tallahassee
Leon County Emergency Medical Services responded about 7:30 a.m. May 10 to a residential area about 4 miles east of downtown Tallahassee, the county reported.
Officials said they found a tree on top of a woman and transported her to a hospital.
Officials at the hospital where the girl was taken estimated it treated less than 10 patients for storm-related injuries and trauma involving fallen trees and car crashes and for health complications.
More than 100,000 electric customers in Leon County lost power during the storms.
Texas power outage map:Severe storms leave nearly 800,000 homes, businesses without power
'High risk' of excessive rainfall in neighboring states Friday
The deaths came before powerful storms hit Texas Thursday night killing four, causing power outages to more than a million customers, and dumping heavy rain on a region already waterlogged from recent storms.
A tornado watch shifted eastward with the storms, moving from Texas to southern Louisiana as strong storms moved through the area. Flood warnings or watches for intense rainfall were in effect in Mississippi and Alabama and as far east as the Florida Panhandle.
The National Weather Service had warned of a "high risk" of excessive rainfall at the Texas-Louisiana state line through Friday morning.
Contributing: Christopher Cann and Dinah Voyles Pulver
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.
