Jackson Free Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Latest on severe storms expected to move across the South (all times local):

6:20 p.m.

The sheriff of a southern Louisiana parish where a tornado is believed to have touched down says at least one person is dead at an RV park.

Sheriff Willy Martin, speaking on local television, says there was one fatality and possibly may be another victim at the recreational vehicle park in Convent. Martin says authorities are still looking for people believed to be trapped under the debris.

He said he could not give an accurate number of people injured but that he saw at least 25 people with injuries — some who were able to walk out while others were more severe.

The reported tornado is part of a line of severe weather and storms that has ripped through Louisiana.

5:55 p.m.

Authorities say at least one person has died after a possible tornado touched down in Mississippi.

Vann Byrd of the Lamar County Emergency Management Agency says the death occurred Tuesday in a mobile home west of Purvis. Byrd didn't release the person's name.

Byrd says officials are still sorting through reports of damage to some buildings.

David Cox, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pearl, Mississippi, says forecasters spotted debris on the ground on Tuesday afternoon that is a typical hallmark of a tornado. Storm damage was also reported at a second location in the county that appeared to be caused by the severe storm system.

5:40 p.m.

The owner of an RV park in Convent, Louisiana, says he believes a tornado tore through that area and that several people are injured and numerous recreational vehicles are destroyed.

Mark Anderson, in a telephone interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, said trees are toppled over and only about six to eight trailers at the Sugar Hill RV Park are left standing. Local news and television footage showed dozens of other trailers lay crumpled, flipped on their sides or pushed into or on top of other mobile homes.

Authorities say there are reports of people possibly trapped in some of the trailers or under debris. The St. James Parish sheriff didn't immediately respond to a request for information.

Richard Zuschlag (ZOOSH-lahg), chairman and CEO of Acadian Ambulance Service Inc., says ambulances have taken eight people to hospitals from houses in Convent, but fallen trees have kept them from reaching the damaged trailer park.

6:15 p.m.

More than a dozen public school systems in south Georgia are closing as forecasters predict severe storms could threaten the region overnight.

Schools in Valdosta and surrounding Lowndes County will be closed Wednesday, as well as 12 other school systems in rural south Georgia counties. Officials say schools in some other districts plan late openings Wednesday.

The National Weather Service says south Georgia faces a threat of violent storms and possible isolated tornadoes from Tuesday night united Wednesday morning.

The same storm system caused early school closures Tuesday in districts in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

5:10 p.m.

An emergency management official in west Alabama says a storm has knocked down trees and damaged at least one home near the rural town of Reform.

Ken Gibson, emergency management director in Pickens County, says no one was injured in the storm Tuesday.

The National Weather Service tweeted that radar showed an apparent twister in the area around the time the damage was reported, but Gibson says he isn't sure what had happened.

"I don't know if it was a small tornado, straight-line winds or a microburst," he said.

4:25 p.m.

Storm shelters have opened in the so-called Pine Belt area of Mississippi.

Shelters opened Tuesday afternoon in Forrest, Lamar and Jones counties for those needing as severe thunderstorms approach. Forecasters say straight-line wind damage, large hail and possible tornadoes and flash flooding are all threats as part of the storm system.

WDAM-TV reports the Forrest County Community Shelter, a 10,000-square-foot facility, is among those being opened. Lamar County's emergency management director, James Smith, says those headed to its county shelter in Purvis should bring their own food and water.

4:10 p.m.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has issued a state of emergency because of severe weather approaching his state.

The declaration released Tuesday means schools won't have to make up any days lost because of the storms. It also directs emergency management officials to offer any assistance needed because of severe weather.

Bentley's action came after the National Weather Service placed southwest Alabama under a tornado watch. Storms moving toward the state already have caused damage near New Orleans, where a possible tornado touched down.

A flash flood watch covered central Alabama, where forecasters said as much as 2 inches of rain was possible. The weather service issued an advisory saying winds up to 40 mph were possible in the Tennessee Valley region of north Alabama.

3:05 p.m.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has issued a state of emergency for all areas of his state that may be affected by the approach of severe weather.

A severe storm system with potential for strong tornadoes, damaging winds, hail and heavy rain, is expected to cross Mississippi through Tuesday night.

Bryant's office says the state of emergency is an administrative tool that allows local governments to request state assistance to help with response and recovery associated with any storm recovery.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said it was monitoring developments and would provide updates as information becomes available.