Tornado Moving Through Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss. (AP)-A large tornado is moving across Mississippi and authorities have closed down an Interstate 55 in the northern part of the state.

Television images on The Weather Channel showed what appeared to be a twister moving along the ground for several minutes near Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Jim Belles, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Memphis, Tennessee, confirmed a tornado had touched down Wednesday in Coahoma County in northwest Mississippi.

He says they have received reports of damage and unconfirmed reports of injuries. The storm is moving northeast.

Forecasters have warned of a “particularly dangerous situation” on Wednesday as they issued new tornado watches for large swaths of Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas.

The storm system is moving east across the South on Wednesday and has killed one person in Arkansas.