The National Weather Service in Birmingham confirmed that a “large and destructive tornado” touched down near the city of Aliceville, about 45 miles west of Tuscaloosa, early Tuesday evening. Student housing was damaged at East Mississippi Community College in Scooba, which is northeast of Meridian in Kemper County, near the Alabama state line. Five counties in south and central Mississippi opened community safe rooms for people to take shelter, in Adams, Copiah, Forrest, Jones and Rankin counties. Even in west Tennessee high winds damaged several homes and school buildings in Crockett County. The state emergency agency asked residents to prepare for the possibility of severe storms into Wednesday morning. when public schools are closed. A snow emergency was declared in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. The state transportation department closed Interstate 90 west of I-35 at the town of Albert Lea, south of the Twin Cities, because of “extremely hazardous driving conditions.”
