Cliff Notes
- At least 36 fatalities have been reported across seven states in the US due to severe tornadoes and high winds, with Missouri experiencing significant casualties.
- Tornado watches are still in effect for parts of the Carolinas, east Georgia, and northern Florida, as storms continue affecting the region and causing widespread damage.
- High winds and dust storms have led to multiple vehicle pile-ups and wildfires, prompting emergency declarations in states like Mississippi, Arkansas, and Georgia.
At least 36 people killed as tornadoes rip through US
At least 36 people have been killed as tornadoes and high winds ripped through parts of the US.
The huge storm, which also produced dust storms and icy conditions, destroyed homes, wiped out schools and toppled lorries across the central and southern areas of the country.
National Weather Service meteorologist Cody Snell said tornado watches remain in place for parts of the Carolinas, east Georgia and northern Florida.
At least 36 people have been killed in seven states, including Missouri, where scattered twisters killed a dozen people, according to authorities.
Dakota Henderson, who lives in the state, said he and others found five bodies in the debris outside what was left of his aunt’s house on Friday night as they tried to rescue trapped neighbours.
“It was a very rough deal,” he said on Saturday. “It’s really disturbing for what happened to the people, the casualties last night.”
Tornadoes continued on Saturday night as the Storm Prediction Center warned a region stretching from eastern Louisiana and Mississippi through Alabama, western Georgia and Florida was most at risk.
Bailey Dillon, 24, and her fiance, Caleb Barnes, watched from their front porch in Tylertown, Mississippi, as a massive twister struck an area about half a mile away near an RV park, before they drove over to help.
They filmed snapped trees, levelled buildings and overturned vehicles as Ms Dillon described the damage as “catastrophic”.
“Everything was destroyed,” she said.
“Homes and everything were destroyed all around it,” she said. “Schools and buildings are just completely gone.”
The dynamic storm, which was given a rare “high risk” designation from weather forecasters, has been blamed for deadly dust storms, icy weather and severe thunderstorms on Sunday.
State of emergency
Mississippi governor Tate Reeves said six people died and more were missing as storms moved further east into Alabama, where three people including an 82-year-old woman were reported dead.
In Arkansas, where three deaths have been confirmed, governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency.
An emergency was also declared in Georgia, where a National Weather Service tornado watch posted early on Sunday warnings of isolated tornadoes, hail and gusts of up to 70mph.
Dust storms and wildfires
Dust storms caused by high winds were blamed for 11 deaths on Friday as eight people died in a pileup involving around 50 vehicles in Kansas, while three people were killed in car crashes in Texas.
The extreme weather conditions were forecast to impact an area home to more than 100 million people, with winds threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and fanning the risk of wildfires in drier, warmer areas to the south.
Evacuations were ordered in some areas of Oklahoma, with more than 130 fires reported across the state and nearly 300 homes damaged or destroyed.
The state’s governor Kevin Stitt said some 266 square miles had burned and that he had lost a home of his own on a ranch northeast of Oklahoma City.