TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — After years of isolation behind the bars and high walls of U.S. penitentiaries and Russian penal colonies, the prisoners will find themselves suddenly free, an emotional moment culminating from long, back-channel negotiations between Washington and Moscow.
Sometimes, they see those who are part of the swap as they pass each other on an airport tarmac or, as in the Cold War, the Glienicke Bridge connecting West Berlin to Potsdam. In decades of prisoner exchanges, those released have included spies, journalists, drug and arms dealers, and even a well-known athlete.
Click to Gallery
FILE - Francis Gary Powers (right), pilot of the U-2, sits in the dock of the Court in the hall of Columns in Moscow, August 17, 1960, at the opening of his Trials of Espionage. At left is his defence counsel, Mikhail Griniev. In probably the most dramatic swap of the Cold War era, Rudolf Abel and Francis Gary Powers were exchanged on Feb. 10, 1962, on the Glienicke Bridge connecting the U.S.-occupied zone of Berlin with East Germany.(AP-Photo, File)
FILE - Russian Col. Rudolf Abel, 55, right, steps from a patrol wagon in front of Brooklyn Federal Court in New York, Aug. 13, 1957, for an appearance on spy charges. He is accompanied by an unidentified U.S. Marshal. Abel, alleged head of military-atomic-secret espionage ring while posing as a Brooklyn artist won another postponement until Aug. 16 to obtain counsel. In probably the most dramatic swap of the Cold War era, Rudolf Abel and Francis Gary Powers were exchanged on Feb. 10, 1962, on the Glienicke Bridge connecting the U.S.-occupied zone of Berlin with East Germany. (AP Photo/Anthony Camerano, File)
FILE - Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was sentenced to 20-years in prison for cocaine trafficking and exchanged for U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed, speaks at the International RUSSIA EXPO Forum and Exhibition in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024.Yaroshenko, a pilot, was arrested in 2010 in Liberia for involvement in a cocaine distribution scheme. He was extradited to the U.S. and sentenced to 20 years. In 2022, he was exchanged for ex-Marine Trevor Reed, who was jailed in Russia. (Pavel Bednyakov/Host photo agency Sputnik via AP, File)
FILE - A cyclist passes over the Glienicke Bridge between Potsdam and Berlin, Germany, on May 6, 2009. They sometimes see those who are part of the swap as they pass each other on an airport tarmac or, as in the Cold War, the Glienicke Bridge connecting West Berlin to Potsdam. In decades of prisoner exchanges, those released have included spies, journalists, drug and arms dealers, and even a well-known athlete. (AP Photo/Sven Kaestner, File)
FILE - Francis Gary Powers (right), pilot of the U-2, sits in the dock of the Court in the hall of Columns in Moscow, August 17, 1960, at the opening of his Trials of Espionage. At left is his defence counsel, Mikhail Griniev. In probably the most dramatic swap of the Cold War era, Rudolf Abel and Francis Gary Powers were exchanged on Feb. 10, 1962, on the Glienicke Bridge connecting the U.S.-occupied zone of Berlin with East Germany.(AP-Photo, File)
FILE - Russian Col. Rudolf Abel, 55, right, steps from a patrol wagon in front of Brooklyn Federal Court in New York, Aug. 13, 1957, for an appearance on spy charges. He is accompanied by an unidentified U.S. Marshal. Abel, alleged head of military-atomic-secret espionage ring while posing as a Brooklyn artist won another postponement until Aug. 16 to obtain counsel. In probably the most dramatic swap of the Cold War era, Rudolf Abel and Francis Gary Powers were exchanged on Feb. 10, 1962, on the Glienicke Bridge connecting the U.S.-occupied zone of Berlin with East Germany. (AP Photo/Anthony Camerano, File)
FILE - Anna Chapman, who was deported from the U.S. on charges of espionage, displays a creation by Russian designers Shiyan & Rudkovskaya during a Fashion Week in Moscow, Russia on Sunday, April 3, 2011. In June 2010, U.S. officials rounded up 10 Russians, including Chapman, alleged to be "sleeper agents" — living under false identities without specific espionage missions — to be activated as needed. They were exchanged for four people imprisoned in Russia. (AP Photo /Luba Sheme, File)
FILE - Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was sentenced to 20-years in prison for cocaine trafficking and exchanged for U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed, speaks at the International RUSSIA EXPO Forum and Exhibition in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024.Yaroshenko, a pilot, was arrested in 2010 in Liberia for involvement in a cocaine distribution scheme. He was extradited to the U.S. and sentenced to 20 years. In 2022, he was exchanged for ex-Marine Trevor Reed, who was jailed in Russia. (Pavel Bednyakov/Host photo agency Sputnik via AP, File)
FILE - Marine veteran Trevor Reed stands behind bars in a courtroom in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, July 20, 2020. Reed, an ex-Marine, was arrested in 2019 in Moscow for assaulting a police officer while allegedly drunk. Reed denied the allegations, but was convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison. In 2022, he was released in an exchange involving pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko imprisoned in the U.S. (Andrei Nikerichev/Moscow News Agency via AP, File)
FILE - Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who was sentenced to 25 years in the United States, speaks to the media prior to an opening ceremony of the exhibition of his artworks at the Mosfilm studio in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Bout was arrested in 2008 in a U.S. sting operation in Thailand for offering to sell surface-to-air missiles to men masquerading as Colombian rebels. He was extradited to the United States, convicted and sentenced to 25 years. In December 2022, the U.S. released Bout in a prisoner swap for WNBA star Brittney Griner jailed in Russia. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - WNBA star Brittney Griner is escorted from court after a hearing in Khimki, just outside Moscow, Aug. 4, 2022. Griner was arrested in February 2022 at a Moscow airport when vape canisters containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage. Later that year, she was convicted of drug charges, sentenced to nine years in prison, and then exchanged for arms trader Viktor Bout imprisoned in the U.S. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - A cyclist passes over the Glienicke Bridge between Potsdam and Berlin, Germany, on May 6, 2009. They sometimes see those who are part of the swap as they pass each other on an airport tarmac or, as in the Cold War, the Glienicke Bridge connecting West Berlin to Potsdam. In decades of prisoner exchanges, those released have included spies, journalists, drug and arms dealers, and even a well-known athlete. (AP Photo/Sven Kaestner, File)
Thursday's historic exchange was an especially complex affair involving months of talks among several countries before planes flew the large number of prisoners to freedom.
Some notable previous swaps:
The Dec. 9, 2022, exchange of the WNBA star for a Russian arms trader nicknamed the “merchant of death” was notable and controversial for the magnitude of its disparities.
Griner had been arrested 10 months earlier on arrival at a Moscow airport when vape canisters containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage. She was convicted of drug charges and sentenced to nine years in prison, a harsh sentence even in low-tolerance Russia.
Bout was arrested in 2008 in a U.S. sting operation in Thailand for offering to sell surface-to-air missiles to men masquerading as Colombian rebels. He eventually was extradited to the United States and convicted of charges, including conspiring to kill U.S. nationals, and sentenced to 25 years.
Griner's celebrity status made her case highly visible, and the Biden administration worked intensively to win her release, which came at the airport in Abu Dhabi. Critics said Washington had caved in to political pressure by swapping an arms dealer for a famous athlete.
The exchange of Reed and Yaroshenko was notable because it came amid soaring tensions only two months after Russia started its full-scale war in Ukraine.
Reed, an ex-Marine, was arrested in 2019 in Moscow for assaulting a police while allegedly drunk. Reed denied the allegations and then-U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan said the case was so preposterous that “even the judge laughed," but Reed got a sentence of nine years.
Yaroshenko, a pilot, was arrested in 2010 in Liberia for involvement in a lucrative cocaine distribution scheme. He was extradited to the U.S. and sentenced to 20 years.
The April 7, 2022, exchange took place at an airport in Turkey.
In June 2010, U.S. officials rounded up 10 Russians alleged to be “sleeper agents” — living under false identities without specific espionage missions — to be activated as needed. Most of the intelligence they gathered apparently was of low significance.
One exception was Anna Chapman, who captured attention in the tabloids with her long red hair and model-like features.
They Russians were exchanged the next month at the Vienna airport in an unusual swap for four Russians imprisoned in their homeland, including Sergei Skripal, a double agent working with the British intelligence service. Skripal took up residence in the U.K., where he and his daughter suffered near-fatal nerve agent poisoning eight years later that officials blamed on Russia.
In probably the most dramatic swap of the Cold War era, Abel and Powers were exchanged on Feb. 10, 1962, on the Glienicke Bridge connecting the U.S.-occupied zone of Berlin with East Germany.
Abel was the alias of British-born William Fisher, who moved to the Soviet Union and joined its intelligence operations in the 1920s. Posted to the U.S. in 1948, he was arrested on espionage charges in 1957 and sentenced to 30 years.
Powers piloted a U-2 high-altitude photo reconnaissance plane that was shot down over central Russia in 1960. Because of the highly sensitive nature of the flight, which was to photograph military facilities, Powers' gear included a coin coated with neurotoxin to be used to kill himself if discovered, but he did not use it.
The exchange on the “Bridge of Spies,” as it was known, was depicted in the 2015 film of the same name.
FILE - Francis Gary Powers (right), pilot of the U-2, sits in the dock of the Court in the hall of Columns in Moscow, August 17, 1960, at the opening of his Trials of Espionage. At left is his defence counsel, Mikhail Griniev. In probably the most dramatic swap of the Cold War era, Rudolf Abel and Francis Gary Powers were exchanged on Feb. 10, 1962, on the Glienicke Bridge connecting the U.S.-occupied zone of Berlin with East Germany.(AP-Photo, File)
FILE - Russian Col. Rudolf Abel, 55, right, steps from a patrol wagon in front of Brooklyn Federal Court in New York, Aug. 13, 1957, for an appearance on spy charges. He is accompanied by an unidentified U.S. Marshal. Abel, alleged head of military-atomic-secret espionage ring while posing as a Brooklyn artist won another postponement until Aug. 16 to obtain counsel. In probably the most dramatic swap of the Cold War era, Rudolf Abel and Francis Gary Powers were exchanged on Feb. 10, 1962, on the Glienicke Bridge connecting the U.S.-occupied zone of Berlin with East Germany. (AP Photo/Anthony Camerano, File)
FILE - Anna Chapman, who was deported from the U.S. on charges of espionage, displays a creation by Russian designers Shiyan & Rudkovskaya during a Fashion Week in Moscow, Russia on Sunday, April 3, 2011. In June 2010, U.S. officials rounded up 10 Russians, including Chapman, alleged to be "sleeper agents" — living under false identities without specific espionage missions — to be activated as needed. They were exchanged for four people imprisoned in Russia. (AP Photo /Luba Sheme, File)
FILE - Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was sentenced to 20-years in prison for cocaine trafficking and exchanged for U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed, speaks at the International RUSSIA EXPO Forum and Exhibition in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024.Yaroshenko, a pilot, was arrested in 2010 in Liberia for involvement in a cocaine distribution scheme. He was extradited to the U.S. and sentenced to 20 years. In 2022, he was exchanged for ex-Marine Trevor Reed, who was jailed in Russia. (Pavel Bednyakov/Host photo agency Sputnik via AP, File)
FILE - Marine veteran Trevor Reed stands behind bars in a courtroom in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, July 20, 2020. Reed, an ex-Marine, was arrested in 2019 in Moscow for assaulting a police officer while allegedly drunk. Reed denied the allegations, but was convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison. In 2022, he was released in an exchange involving pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko imprisoned in the U.S. (Andrei Nikerichev/Moscow News Agency via AP, File)
FILE - Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who was sentenced to 25 years in the United States, speaks to the media prior to an opening ceremony of the exhibition of his artworks at the Mosfilm studio in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Bout was arrested in 2008 in a U.S. sting operation in Thailand for offering to sell surface-to-air missiles to men masquerading as Colombian rebels. He was extradited to the United States, convicted and sentenced to 25 years. In December 2022, the U.S. released Bout in a prisoner swap for WNBA star Brittney Griner jailed in Russia. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - WNBA star Brittney Griner is escorted from court after a hearing in Khimki, just outside Moscow, Aug. 4, 2022. Griner was arrested in February 2022 at a Moscow airport when vape canisters containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage. Later that year, she was convicted of drug charges, sentenced to nine years in prison, and then exchanged for arms trader Viktor Bout imprisoned in the U.S. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - A cyclist passes over the Glienicke Bridge between Potsdam and Berlin, Germany, on May 6, 2009. They sometimes see those who are part of the swap as they pass each other on an airport tarmac or, as in the Cold War, the Glienicke Bridge connecting West Berlin to Potsdam. In decades of prisoner exchanges, those released have included spies, journalists, drug and arms dealers, and even a well-known athlete. (AP Photo/Sven Kaestner, File)
LAKE CITY, Ark. (AP) — Standing alongside the twisted steel tractors on his family farm in northeast Arkansas, Danny Qualls looked on while friends and relatives helped him begin cleaning up.
The home where he spent his childhood but no longer lives was flattened by one of many tornadoes that left behind destruction from Oklahoma to Indiana — the first in a round of storms expected to bring historic rains and life-threatening flash floods across the nation’s midsection in the coming days.
“My husband has been extremely tearful and emotional, but he also knows that we have to do the work,” Rhonda Qualls said Thursday. “He was in shock last night, cried himself to sleep.”
At least six people were killed in western Tennessee, Missouri and Indiana in the initial wave on Wednesday and early Thursday that spawned powerful tornadoes — one of which launched light debris nearly 5 miles (8 kilometers) into the air above Arkansas.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said it was too early to know whether there were more deaths as searches persisted.
“The devastation is enormous. What’s most difficult about it is, you know that those are lives destroyed,” Lee said in the hard-hit town of Selmer. “In some cases, true life lost, but in other cases, everything people owned, up in trees.”
Those who died included a Tennessee man and his teenage daughter whose home was destroyed, and a man whose pickup struck downed power lines in Indiana.
Forecasters warned Thursday of catastrophic weather soon ahead. Satellite imagery showed thunderstorms lining up like freight trains — taking the same tracks over communities in Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, according to the national Weather Prediction Center in Maryland.
The bull's-eye centered on a swath along the Mississippi River and included the more than 1.3 million people around Memphis, Tennessee.
More than 90 million people were at risk of severe weather from Texas to Minnesota and Maine, according to the Oklahoma-based Storm Prediction Center.
Round after round of heavy rains were expected in the central U.S. through Saturday and could produce dangerous flash floods capable of sweeping away cars. The potent storm system will bring “significant, life-threatening flash flooding” each day, the National Weather Service said.
With more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain possible over the next four days, the prolonged deluge is something that “happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime,” the weather service said. “Historic rainfall totals and impacts are possible.”
Water rescue teams and sandbagging operations were being staged across the region, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency was ready to distribute food, water, cots and generators.
Water rescues were already underway in flooded parts of Nashville, Tennessee, where the rain could persist for days after an unnerving night of tornado warnings that drained the batteries of some city sirens, the fire department said.
Western Kentucky was bracing for record of rain and flooding in places that normally do not get inundated, Gov. Andy Beshear said.
Flash flooding is particularly worrisome in rural areas of the state where water can quickly rush off the mountains into the hollows. Less than four years ago, dozens died in flooding across eastern Kentucky.
Extreme flooding across the corridor that includes Louisville, Kentucky and Memphis, which have major cargo hubs, could also lead to major shipping and supply chain delays, said Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather.
Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong wind shear and abundant moisture streaming from the Gulf.
Under darkened skies Thursday morning, the remains of a used car dealership in Selmer stood roofless and gutted, with debris scattered across the car lot and wrapped around mangled trees. Some homes were leveled to their foundations in the Tennessee town, where three tornadoes were suspected of touching down.
“Thank God we came out without a scratch,” said Willie Barnes, who had only enough time to get in a bathroom with his wife before the storm wrecked his home.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol released video of lightning illuminating the sky as first responders scoured the ruins of a home, looking for anyone trapped.
In neighboring Arkansas, a tornado near Blytheville lofted debris at least 25,000 feet (7.6 kilometers) high, according to weather service meteorologist Chelly Amin. The state's emergency management office reported damage in 22 counties from tornadoes, wind, hail and flash flooding.
Workers on bulldozers cleared rubble along the highway that crosses through Lake City, where a tornado with winds of 150 mph (241 kph) sheared the roofs off homes, collapsed brick walls and tossed cars into trees.
Mississippi's governor said at least 60 homes were damaged. And in far western Kentucky, four people were injured while taking shelter in a vehicle under a church carport, according to the emergency management office in Ballard County.
This story has been updated to correct that Lake City is in northeast Arkansas, not northwest.
Walker IV reported from Selmer, Tennessee, and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, Seth Borenstein in Washington; Isabella O'Malley in Philadelphia; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Bruce Schreiner in Louisville, Kentucky; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Hallie Golden in Seattle; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.
Damaged equipment sits on a farm struck by Wednesday night's tornado on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Lake City, Ark. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)
Danny Qualls speaks with a reporter about damage to his family farm on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Lake City, Ark. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)
Lauren Fraser picks up paperwork in the damaged second floor offices of Specialty Distributors after a tornado passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Dana Hardin, a 25-year former employee of Gordon-Hardy, which was destroyed, looks on near the debris of the KEP Electric building after a tornado passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A shipping and receiving bay door is damaged along with the interior of the Gordon-Hardy building after a tornado passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A specialty distributors building is in ruins after a tornado passed through an industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
William Fraser takes photographs inside the warehouse of a damaged building of Specialty Distributors after a tornado passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A home is in ruins after severe weather passed through Lake City, Ark., on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)
People clean up a damaged warehouse after severe weather passed the area in Carmel, Ind., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
A resident along Tippah County Rd. 122 in the Three Forks Community near Walnut, Miss., makes his way down his driveway Thursday, April 3, 205, to inspect the tornado damage in the daylight hours. (Thomas Wells /The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)
Family and friends begin picking up whats left of a house that was ripped off it's foundation and thrown over 75 feet away along Tippah County Rd. 122 in the Three Forks Community near Walnut Miss., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (Thomas Wells /The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)
A piece of home decor rests inside a claw foot bathtub that was thrown from it's house along Tippah County Rd. 122 in the Three Forks Community near Walnut Miss., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (Thomas Wells /The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)
People look over the debris around a home at Lake City, Ark., on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)
Willy Barns gathers cloths at his house after severe weather passed the area in Selmer, Tenn., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Jamar Atkins helps to clean up a house after severe weather passed through Selma, Tenn., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Jamar Atkins helps to clean up Willy Brown's house after severe weather passed the area in Selma, Tenn., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Titan Atkins cleans up his grandmother's house after severe weather passed the area in Selma, Tenn., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
A damaged truck sits under a section of collapsed warehouse wall after violent storms and tornadoes tore through the area on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, KY. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A car drives through a flooded section of road near Lions Park Beach Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in St. Joseph, Mich., after heavy storms moved through Southwest Michigan. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
A tractor trailer from an O'Reilly warehouse sits on its side after severe weather passed the area in Brownsburg, Ind., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Brownsburg irefighters survey storm damage to a warehouse in Brownsburg, Ind., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
A smashed truck sits under a section of collapsed warehouse wall after violent storms and tornadoes tore through the area on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
In an aerial view, a smashed truck sits under a section of collapsed warehouse wall after violent storms and tornadoes tore through the area on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
A trailer sits on top of a semi truck parked at J & J Transportation on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)
Brownsburg firefighters survey storm damage to a warehouse in Brownsburg, Ind., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Debris litter the parking lot from storm damage to a warehouse in Brownsburg, Ind., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Brownsburg irefighters survey storm damage to a warehouse in Brownsburg, Ind., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Warehouse workers gather at the site of a storm damaged warehouse in Brownsburg, Ind., Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Storm damage from severe weather on Sunday at a farm along 84th Street near Hanna Lake Avenue in Gaines Twp., Mich. on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)
A barn that collapsed from Sunday's severe storm along 92nd Street SE in Gaines Twp., Mich., on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)
Gary Deripaska, left, cleans up storm damage at his home off 96th Street North just west of Garnett Road, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)
A toppled tree with its roots showing on Woodworth Street in Linden, Mich., on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)
An aerial image of a barn that collapsed after a severe storm hit Sunday along 92nd Street SE in Gaines Twp., Mich., on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)
An early morning severe storm damaged homes, destroying the roofs and knocked down power lines, trees, and fences off 96th Street North near Garnett Road, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)
A tree fell and knocked down power lines and blocked a street in a residential neighborhood during storms on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)
Lightning strikes as storms move through the area Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Ashland City, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Severe storm damage is shown off 96th Street North between Garnett Road and Mingo Road Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)
Ryland Mosley, 18, who was on the 2nd story of his home when the storm passed, stands outside of it observing the damage, Wednesday, April 2, 2025 in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)
