SEVERE STORM DAMAGE: Strong storms carrying high winds & golf ball-size hail struck the Southeast Thursday afternoon, with Central Alabama taking the brunt of the storm damage. Viewed here in Pinson, AL has been confirmed as straight-line wind damage from a microburst (a column of sinking air that produces extreme winds). Elsewhere, in Trussville, AL an EF-0 Tornado was confirmed by the National Weather Service. | WeatherNation

Drivers along Highway 76 were forced to slam on their brakes as extreme winds ripped hundreds of mattresses from a nearby store and hurled them into traffic. Witnesses described mattresses striking vehicles, flying overhead, and piling up across lanes as visibility dropped and chaos spread. No official damage estimates were immediately available as the incident unfolded in real time across the Branson Strip | Nilam Farooq