North and South Carolina are facing a series of tornado alerts amid a severe thunderstorm on Wednesday. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued tornado watches for a number of counties in North and South Carolina.

You hear the terms watch and warning a lot in severe weather. Here's what they mean and what you should do when it's issued in your area.

On Wednesday, much of Hampton Roads was under a tornado watch at some point. Knowing the meaning of different alerts is essential.

NWS suggested tornadoes are possible, with wind gusts to 75 mph and isolated storms with large hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area was hit with severe storms Tuesday that spawned an EF-1 tornado in Irving and, meteorologists confirmed Wednesday another EF-1 tornado and wind damage in Wise County. Residents in Irving — where the weather service confirmed a tornado touched down on Pioneer Drive between North MacArthur and North O’Connor boulevards — reported the wind shaking their homes.

Crews from the National Weather Service in Fort Worth have been out across North Texas surveying damage from Tuesday’s storms. Meteorologist Tom Bradshaw says most of the damage appears to be due to straight-line winds,