As storms approached and moved through the Mid-South, tornado warnings were put in effect for Crittenden and Shelby counties.

The tornado warnings lasted until 8:30 p.m.

A trained storm spotter reported funnel clouds that descended into a tornado just west of the Mississippi River, which the National Weather Service reported at 8:05 p.m. The Coast Guard then reported that the tornado was a waterspout on the Mississippi River near downtown Memphis.

Reporter Michele Reese was in the middle of the storm and saw plenty of rain and lightning. The storm was so strong that most of the 18-wheelers on I-55 pulled over to wait it out.

When the rain subsided, she drove into Jericho, but didn’t get far. Police had blocked the gravel road that leads into town because of a downed power line, which also caused a few nearby homes to lose power.

Just up the road off Highway 77, a car was crushed by a tree. The homeowner said he watched it from his porch as it came crashing down.

“‘My mom and I were on the front stops.. all of a sudden it intensified, a big gust a wind, and next thing we knew, we heard snap, crackle, pop,” Alvin Vaughn said.

Vaughn said he is grateful the tree fell on the car instead of the house.

Severe winds downed a power line, as well as several billboards and business signs in Poinsett County, Ark. Local authorities also said roofs were taken off warehouse buildings and power poles were snapped northwest and southeast of Waldenburg.

A trained spotter reported quarter-size hail along I-55 near mile marker 18 (approximately one mile north of Jericho) at little after 7:30 p.m. Golfball-size hail was spotted in Marion just before 8 p.m.

At 9:34 p.m., NWS radar indicated a severe thunderstorm with damaging winds in excess of 60 miles per hour and producing quarter-size hail. The storm was located near Lewisburg, about seven miles southeast of Olive Branch and moving southeast at 30 miles per hour.

As of about 10:15 p.m., we have not received any reports of injuries.