At least 32 people across five states have died and dozens more are injured after a violent storm system swept across the country, slamming the Mississippi Valley and Deep South.
A brutal combination of tornadoes, severe storms and whipping winds has left at least 12 dead in Missouri, the Associated Press reports. Another eight died in Kansas on Friday in a highway pile-up involving 50 vehicles amid a dust storm. Mississippi’s governor also reported six dead after the state was rocked by tornadoes, severe storms and even an earthquake late Saturday.
The Texas Department of Public Safety reported three deaths in three separate car crashes due to low visibility and high winds after a dust storm ripped through the state Friday. Another three people also died in Arkansas amid the storms.
One man was killed after a tornado tore apart his home.
"It was unrecognizable as a home. Just a debris field," Butler County, Missouri Coroner Jim Akers told the Associated Press. "The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls." A woman in the home was saved by rescuers, the outlet noted.
Governors of Arkansas, Georgia, and Mississippi have each declared states of emergency.
The Carolinas
Nearly 250,000 Americans are without power across as of Sunday morning, according to poweroutage.us.
North Carolinians went to sleep Saturday night with the threat of “damaging” winds, tornadoes and “large” hail, the state’s emergency management team predicted. More than 44,000 in the state are without power as of Sunday morning, with Duke Energy reporting 200 outages across 16 counties, according to Fox Carolina.
Tornado watches were still in effect Sunday morning in counties across North and South Carolina through Sunday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. Strong winds are expected to whip throughout the day Sunday into the evening, with gusts of up to 45 mph.
Texas
Three have died in Texas in car crashes as a result of the dust storm, with one car pileup including an estimated 38 vehicles, AccuWeather reported.
In Amarillo in the Texas panhandle, a video posted by the National Weather Service captured 83 mph winds dust to swirl and lamp posts, flag poles and trees to shake. “Dangerous winds and blowing dust are causing LOTS of issues out there, including accidents, downed power lines and low visibility. Take extreme caution out there!” the government agency wrote.
Many others are under threat as wildfires tear across the northern part of the state. As of Sunday morning, nine wildfires were raging across the state, most of which were more than 65 percent contained. Fire weather watches and red flag warnings are expected to take effect early this week.
Fires are also devastating Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Kansas. In some Oklahoma communities, officials ordered locals to evacuate as more than 130 fires were reported across the state, the Associated Press reported.
At a press conference Saturday, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt said nearly 300 homes were damaged and more than 170,000 acres had burned due to the fires.
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Additional reporting by AP.
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