A destructive storm continued for millions of people across the Mid-South on Thursday, killing at least five people as tornadoes, high winds and rainfall caused damage and flooding across numerous states.

Three fatalities occurred in Tennessee, one in Missouri, and one in Indiana, according to state officials.

One death occurred in the middle of the night when the victim’s home in Fayette County, Tennessee, was flipped upside down, according to the county’s Emergency Management Agency. In Indiana, a person was killed after driving over a downed power line.

More tornadoes are likely Friday. The Storm Prediction Center had issued a moderate (Level 4 out of 5) risk of severe thunderstorms for many areas in Arkansas, including Little Rock. 

A rare high-risk warning for excessive rainfall — the highest level issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — covers parts of five states Thursday, with the corridor including Memphis and Jackson in Tennessee, and Jonesboro in Arkansas.

In some parts of Tennessee, reports of flooding had begun to emerge Thursday morning. In Nashville, for example, 3.02 inches of rain had fallen at the airport since early that morning, compared to the typical total April average of about 4 inches.

The National Weather Service in Memphis said it would investigate damage from overnight storms in Lake City, Arkansas, and Selmer, Tennessee, on Thursday as part of surveys to potentially confirm tornadoes and assess their size and strength.

While strong tornadoes weren’t expected to be as widespread Thursday as they were Wednesday, an enhanced risk (Level 3 out of 5) for severe thunderstorms covered 4 million people across seven states, from northeastern Texas to western Tennessee. The Weather Prediction Center called it a “prolonged, life-threatening flash flood event” with “major flooding” expected.

As of early Thursday, there had been more than 450 reports of severe weather from Texas to Michigan, including more than 25 preliminary reports of tornadoes, damaging winds and, in some communities, hail the size of baseballs.

More than 200,000 customers were without power from Mississippi to Michigan on Thursday. More outages will probably occur later Thursday as strong storms redevelop.

On Wednesday evening, storm chasers got extremely close to a dangerously strong vortex that tore through Lake City, Arkansas. The northern suburbs of Indianapolis were struck by a damaging tornado Wednesday night, which reportedly caused a warehouse to partially collapse and seemingly flooded parts of the city.

Early Thursday, the tornado risk shifted eastward. While tornado reports have not been confirmed, the communities of Selmer and Bethel Springs in Tennessee, may have been hit by a pair of them a little more than two hours apart. Storms accompanied by tornado warnings then passed near Nashville as tornado sirens rang out across the city.

The extreme weather threat will continue in the central states until early Sunday before shifting east, as rounds of intense rain and possible severe thunderstorms are set to lash areas from Texas to Ohio.

Nashville was under a flash flood warning Thursday after the city saw heavy rains overnight and into the morning. The city’s Emergency Operations Center posted images and video of its crews braving waist-deep waters to conduct rescues.

Additional rounds of flooding are more likely in areas that experienced heavy rainfall and flooding Wednesday because the ground is saturated.

“With more severe weather and increasing flooding the next few days, we are not able to immediately survey all the damage, as our focus will remain on warning operations,” Darone Jones of the Weather Service in Memphis said Thursday. He said the agency would deploy teams to assess damage or any areas with reports of storm-related fatalities.

A moderate risk (Level 3 out of 4) for excessive rainfall covers more than 9 million people from Arkansas to Ohio, while a high risk (Level 4 out of 4) is in effect for more than 2.5 million people in eastern Arkansas, northern Mississippi, western Tennessee, southeastern Missouri and western Kentucky.

Rainfall amounts of up to 6 inches are possible in the hardest-hit areas, with river flooding possible or likely across several states.

The threat Thursday of severe thunderstorms will be widespread, covering a 1,500-mile stretch from northern Texas to central Pennsylvania, including the nation’s capital.

An enhanced risk (Level 3 out of 5) for severe thunderstorms covers parts of southeastern Oklahoma, northeastern Texas, Arkansas, far northern Louisiana, northern Mississippi, western Tennessee and far southeastern Missouri, home to more than 4 million people.

While the tornado threat won’t be as high as it was Wednesday, the Storm Prediction Center says strong tornadoes will again be possible, primarily in a corridor from far northeastern Texas to southwestern Tennessee.

On the cold side of the storm, more than a foot of snow had fallen in northern Minnesota as of early Thursday. Snow amounts of 4 to 8 inches were common across the region, extending westward into the Dakotas.

The snow will end there early Thursday, but wintry weather will develop across northern New England, where freezing rain will make for dangerous travel conditions.

The threat for excessive rainfall and severe thunderstorms will continue into the weekend across the Mid-South because of an “atmospheric traffic jam” causing the storm to hit the same areas time and time again.

On Friday, the risk for flooding rainfall will be highest from northeastern Texas to southern Indiana — farther west than Thursday’s risk area.

Severe thunderstorms are expected to threaten the same corridor, with tornadoes again possible.

From Saturday into early Sunday, a high risk for excessive rainfall returns to many of the same areas that were hit hard Wednesday and forecast to be significantly affected Thursday — an area extending from eastern Arkansas to southern Indiana.

By the time the storm is done, more than a foot of rain probably will have fallen in some areas.

The system will shift toward the Eastern Seaboard on Sunday as the threat eases across the central states.

Matthew Cappucci contributed to this report.