The Latest: Woman dies in Mississippi storm during 911 call

JACKSON, Miss. – The Latest on severe weather in the Southern United States (all times local):

9:03 a.m.

Officials say severe weather has killed two people in Mississippi, including a woman who was desperately directing rescuers to her submerged car when she died.

Rankin County Coroner David Ruth says 52-year-old Jacqueline Williams ran off a road in Florence into a rain-swollen creek early Monday and dialed 911 from the sinking vehicle.

Ruth says the Florence woman was trying to relay her location to a dispatcher as the car went down. He says the woman told the operator she could hear sirens when the two lost contact.

Ruth says a swift-water recovery team later found her body in the creek outside the car.

Greg Flynn of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency says two people have been killed in the state because of severe weather. A woman died in the Delta town of Glendora when strong winds knocked a large tree onto her house Sunday night, and two people died earlier in Louisiana.

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8:10 a.m.

Scores of Alabama schools are calling off classes because of the threat from strong storms that already have killed two people in Louisiana.

Administrators across southern Alabama canceled classes Monday rather than have children traveling to school amid torrential rains. The public school systems included two of the state's largest in Mobile and Montgomery.

Forecasters said about 3 inches of rain already had fallen in parts of west Alabama, and the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for the southern end of the state.

Alabama Power said more than 27,000 homes and businesses were without electricity.

The weather service says severe weather is also possible in southeastern Mississippi and the western Florida Panhandle.

A tornado flipped a mobile home in Louisiana, killing a mother and her 3-year-old daughter Sunday night.

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1:45 a.m.

Severe storms that killed two people in Louisiana are taking aim at Alabama and other parts of the Southeast.

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma says tornadoes and strong winds are likely Monday from parts of Mississippi extending to South Carolina. The greatest tornado risk is centered over southern Alabama.

A tornado flipped a mobile home in Louisiana on Sunday, killing a mother and her 3-year-old daughter. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards put the entire state on "high alert" and warned residents to stay off the roads. Power was knocked out to thousands of homes and businesses and downed trees were blocking roads.