Kenneth Bruton was leaving a grocery store when he got into his truck, looked back, and saw the tornado coming over a hill.
“I got out of my truck and started running for cover,” Bruton told KARK. The force of the wind knocked him down on his face, he said, but he was able to make it to a room.
“And when I walked in, huddled against the concrete barrier, all the glass windows blew out and people flew out,” Bruton said. “And I endured. And it must have been a minute just snuggling. I thought I was lost for sure.»
The Arkansas State Emergency Operations Center issued a full activation in response to severe weather Friday afternoon, according to a statement.
Nearly 89,000 utility customers are without power in the state as of 8 p.m. ET, according to poweroutage.es.
Tornado warnings covered a swath from eastern Texas to Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee, and north to eastern Iowa and southern Wisconsin around 7:30 p.m. ET, according to the National Weather Service.
He agency warned that many tornadoes can be expected, as well as «widespread apple-sized hail» and wind gusts up to 70 mph.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency Friday afternoon ahead of severe weather expected in the western part of the state.
In Tennessee, Tipton County and other areas were under a «tornado emergency» Friday night. The weather service issued an urgent appeal to the City of Covington to shelter immediately.
Tipton County Sheriff Shannon Beasley said in a Facebook post there was damage to several houses and other structures, and he urged residents to stay out of the area.
Tornado warnings were issued in Iowa on Friday and there were reports of tornadoes on the ground.
VideosHare by KWWL, NBC affiliate of Waterloo, Iowa, showed damage to buildings in Coralville, a city of about 22,000 adjacent to Iowa City.
Severe thunderstorms with flash flooding are also likely from the Midwest to the lower Mississippi Valley on Friday, according to the National Metereological Service.
The storms will move at speeds in excess of 55 mph and extend late into the night, creating very dangerous conditions, according to the National Weather Service.
Heavy rainfall of up to 3 to 5 inches could cause flash flooding in some areas. The areas most at risk for flooding as of Friday night are in the Ohio, Tennessee and Lower Mississippi Valleys.
This major storm system is set to spread weather hazards across the central and eastern US over the next few days.
The severe weather comes a week after tornadoes ripped through Mississippi and Alabama, killing 26 people and causing widespread damage.
emma li and christian santana contributed.