At least 32 people have been killed after violent storms and tornadoes swept through parts of central and southern United States, local officials say.
“The Patrol and local agencies continue incident operations in several locations,” the Missouri State Highway Patrol said in a statement on Saturday. The Midwestern state recorded more fatalities than any other state as scattered twisters overnight killed at least 12, authorities said.
The deaths included a man who was killed when a tornado ripped apart his home. “It was unrecognisable as a home. Just a debris field,” Butler County Coroner Jim Akers said, describing the scene that confronted rescuers when they arrived. “The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls.”
The highway patrol reported downed trees and power lines as well as damage to residential and commercial buildings after some areas were severely impacted by “tornadoes, thunderstorms and large hail.”
Thousands left without power
The late-winter storms have also left over 185,000 households and businesses without electricity across six US states, as tornadoes and high winds wreaked havoc over the weekend.
Missouri, which bore the brunt of multiple tornadoes from Friday night into Saturday morning, reported the highest number of outages, with 68,798 customers affected, according to data from PowerOutage.us.
Alabama followed with 51,393 outages, while Georgia recorded 26,667. Tennessee, Illinois, and Mississippi also faced significant disruptions, with 16,451, 10,074, and 12,248 customers without power respectively.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves addressed the situation during a press briefing, stating, “Crews are currently working to restore power as quickly as possible.”
In the neighbouring state of Arkansas, officials said three people died and 29 were injured in the storms. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency.
I have declared a state of emergency in response to last night’s severe storms and tornadoes.
We will continue to do everything possible to help affected communities. https://t.co/RJCWzZk7zm
— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) March 15, 2025
“We have teams out surveying the damage from last night’s tornadoes and have first responders on the ground to assist,” Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. “In the meantime, I just released $250,000 from our Disaster Recovery fund to provide resources for this operation for each of the impacted communities.”
On Friday, authorities said three people were killed in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle.
A massive storm system moving across the country unleashed winds that triggered dust storms and fanned more than 100 wildfires.
Extreme weather – including hurricane-force winds – is forecast to affect an area that is home to more than 100 million people. Winds gusting up to 130 kilometres per hour (80 miles per hour) were predicted from the Canadian border to Texas, threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and wildfire risks in warmer, drier areas in the south.
Evacuations were ordered in some Oklahoma communities as more than 130 fires were reported across the state. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said winds were so strong that they toppled several tractor-trailers. The state’s governor said more than 200 homes have been damaged or destroyed by wildfires.
