The year’s first deadly US tornado struck after dark Thursday, killing two people in a small East Tennessee community as the first of five back-to-back, jet stream-driven winter storms pummeled the eastern United States.

A tornado swept through a swath of eastern Tennessee on Thursday night, killing a mother and daughter and injuring at least three other people as it caused severe property damage, officials said.The National Weather Service confirmed Friday that Deer Lodge in Morgan County was hit by a tornado.

Officials in eastern Tennessee say two people were killed when severe storms with a possible tornado moved through the region