Limestone battened down the hatches as a line of severe thunderstorms tracked eastward across the central Tennessee Valley, but the area seems have to escaped any serious damage.

At early afternoon, Rita White of the Emergency Management Agency said the “big mass” of storms was breaking up, but meteorologists warned that this could mean even stronger winds.

“It can be bad when individual cells develop into stronger cells than the big mass,” said White.

The area was under a tornado watch until 5 p.m., later extended to 7 p.m., and one time during late afternoon sirens sounded as a tornado was spotted on the ground in Lauderdale County that threatened the Rogersville community.

Several county schools postponed football games until tonight, but Athens High School went ahead with its match against Lee High School, played in Huntsville.

Schools did not dismiss classes early, but the Athens city schools Latch Key Program did not meet and several extracurricular activities were canceled.

Along with the threat of severe weather, the area was expected to be deluged with as much as 3 inches per hour. There were no reports of local flash flooding, although a flash flood watch was issued for the afternoon and evening hours, according to the National Weather Service Office in Huntsville.

Rainfall was expected to taper off during the overnight hours, but light to moderate rains along with an isolated thunderstorm were expected to be ongoing into today. The rainfall, though, is expected to come to an end late this afternoon and evening.

No hazardous weather is expected Sunday through Thursday.