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Deadly storms and tornadoes kill at least 29 people in several US states Deadly storms and tornadoes kill at least 29 people in several US states
(about 1 hour later)
Nine dead in Tennessee as buildings destroyed and tens of thousands of homes still without power Monster storm system struck at least eight states over the weekend, prompting at least 50 preliminary reports of tornadoes
The death toll from a major storm system that has lashed the south-central and eastern US with devastating winds and destructive tornadoes has risen to at least 29, officials said on Sunday. As many as 29 people have been killed after a slew of tornadoes tore through parts of the southern and midwestern US in recent days, leaving immense destruction and debris in its path, according to officials.
Tennessee, one of the hardest-hit states since the storms began on Friday, initially had seven weather-related fatalities but the toll there later rose to nine, according to the Memphis-based news channel WREG. A monster storm system struck at least eight states over the weekend, prompting at least 50 preliminary reports of tornadoes. The states affected include Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Delaware and Alabama.
The tornado twisted trees, flattened homes into piles of wooden boards and ripped walls from still-standing structures in Tennessee. Home to 85 million people, the affected area saw at least 900,000 places without power after the storms began tearing through Friday evening.
“The whole house, you can feel it shaking,” said Janice Pieterick, whose house doors and glass windows blew out when the tornado swept through Lewis county. “We just all hunkered down.” Tennessee, one of the hardest-hit states, had nine deaths related to the weather, according to the Memphis-based news channel WREG. A tornado there twisted trees, flattened homes into piles of wooden boards and ripped walls from still-standing structures.
The toll in Tennessee came on top of the 17 deaths reported in Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama in the south, Indiana and Illinois in the midwest, and Delaware in the mid-Atlantic. The storm system left dozens injured. “The whole house, you can feel it shaking,” said Janice Pieterick, whose house doors and glass windows blew out when the tornado swept through the state’s Lewis county. “We just all hunkered down.”
It sent multiple tornadoes – some of exceptional size and rare power – sweeping through Arkansas, where they killed at least five people, the state’s governor said. Daylight revealed extensive damage, with several homes torn apart, cars overturned, power lines toppled and trees ripped out of the ground. The deaths blamed on the storm system also included at least 17 across Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama in the south, Indiana and Illinois in the midwest, and Delaware in the mid-Atlantic. The storm system left dozens injured.
The governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, declared a state of emergency and activated the national guard to help with recovery efforts. She said she had spoken to President Joe Biden, who promised to expedite federal aid. As of Sunday morning, residents in mid-Atlantic states are experiencing the highest number of power outages in the country, peaking at well over 200,000 customers without power, according to PowerOutage.us. Meanwhile, the Great Lake states including Ohio, Indiana and Minnesota have close to 110,000 customers without electricity.
Wynne, in north-eastern Arkansas, was “cut in half by damage from east to west”, the city’s mayor, Jennifer Hobbs, told CNN. In Sullivan, Indiana, a small city home to about 4,000 residents, the storms have wreaked havoc and “severe damage” to several houses. On Saturday, Sullivan’s mayor, Clint Lamb, confirmed a tornado touchdown, writing on Facebook: “We need all citizens to stay safe and stay put. Multiple houses have experienced severe damage. First responders need clear streets so they can tend to affected areas.”
The National Weather Service had issued tornado warnings for several other states, from as far north as Iowa to the southern state of Mississippi, where a twister last week killed 25 people and caused extensive property damage. Indiana’s governor, Eric Holcomb, has declared a state of emergency and called for an “all hands on deck effort” during an address in Sullivan. Images posted online show the city leveled with destroyed cars and buildings, as well as debris everywhere.
Calamity struck in the Illinois town of Belvidere, outside Chicago, on Friday when severe weather caused the roof and part of the facade of the Apollo theatre to collapse while a heavy metal band played inside. In Iowa, Governor Kim Reynolds has issued a disaster proclamation for 12 counties in eastern Iowa. On Friday, twin tornadoes were captured on camera as they tore through the state’s Keokuk county where at least nine homes were destroyed.
TV footage showed emergency personnel carrying out injured concertgoers on stretchers, while video posted on social media showed waist-high rubble on the floor of the venue and a gaping hole in the roof. Meanwhile, in Belvidere, Illinois, the roof of a concert hall theater collapsed onto 260 people who were attending a heavy metal concert during the storm. A 50-year-old man was killed while 28 others were injured, including five who had serious injuries, according to fire officials who spoke to NBC.
The Belvidere fire chief, Shawn Schadle, reported one death and 28 injuries, including five people with serious injuries. TV footage showed emergency personnel carrying out injured concert-goers on stretchers, while video posted on social media showed waist-high rubble on the floor of the venue and a gaping hole in the roof.
In Crawford county in southern Illinois, three people died when a house collapsed, probably from a tornado hit, said Kevin Sur, a spokesperson for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. The National Weather Service on Saturday reported a “severe weather event” across north-eastern Illinois and north-western Indiana prompted scattered large hail, widespread wind damage and multiple tornadoes.
In the neighboring state of Indiana, three people were killed by a storm in Sullivan county, several US media outlets reported, citing local authorities. In Arkansas, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency, pledging to “spare no resource to assist with response and recovery efforts for Arkansans impacted”.
The state’s department of natural resources said two campers were found dead after storms hit a state park in Owen county, causing “severe damage” to the campground, according to a statement on Saturday. In the state’s north-eastern town of Wynne over the weekend, the storm destroyed a local high school, shredding its roof and breaking its windows.
Overnight tornadoes also killed one person in Pontotoc county, Mississippi, and one in Madison county, Alabama, emergency officials said on Saturday. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my whole lifetime in Arkansas,” Wynne high school assistant principal Mark Griffin told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “It’s hard to see and it’s hard to know because we don’t have a lot of communication with people. Cell service is sketchy, so we’re just worried about a lot of people and all we can do is do what we can do for right now and try to start getting things back in order and safe for people to walk around.”
More than 610,000 homes were without power on Saturday, according to the PowerOutage.us website. The situation was improving by Sunday morning but tens of thousands were still without electricity. In Tennessee, a half-mile-wide tornado which tore through Wayne and Lewis counties on Friday traveled about 38 miles in as many minutes packing wind speeds of 130 mph, the Tennessean newspaper reported.
As the storm tracked north-eastward, the highest number of outages from Saturday afternoon into Sunday were in the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Following destruction from the storm which destroyed dozens of houses as well as a post office, volunteer efforts were being set up across the state Sunday to help clean up debris.
During a visit to Mississippi on Friday to survey the storm damage from a tornado a week earlier that killed 21 people, President Joe Biden promised to help residents rebuild. Speaking to reporters near an animal shelter and a destroyed hardware store in Rolling Fork, the president said, “We’re not just here for today. … We’re going to get it done for you.”
He added that the federal government planned to cover the total cost of the state’s emergency measure for the next 30 days. The measures include overtime for first responders and debris cleanup, the Associated Press reported.
The mid-Atlantic state of Delaware suffered one fatality from a “collapsed structure” in Sussex county on Saturday evening, according to the county’s emergency operations centre, while several other states in the area remained under high wind warnings.The mid-Atlantic state of Delaware suffered one fatality from a “collapsed structure” in Sussex county on Saturday evening, according to the county’s emergency operations centre, while several other states in the area remained under high wind warnings.
“Maximum wind gusts could approach 60mph (100km/h) throughout much of the Appalachians, upper Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic today,” the National Weather System warned. “Maximum wind gusts could approach 60mph (100 km/h) throughout much of the Appalachians, upper Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic today,” the National Weather System warned.
Tornadoes are common in the US, especially in the centre and south of the country.Tornadoes are common in the US, especially in the centre and south of the country.
Biden on Friday visited the Mississippi city of Rolling Fork, one of the worst-hit areas in last week’s tornado. Agence France-Presse contributed reporting
In December 2021, tornadoes killed about 80 people in Kentucky. Agence France-Presse contributed reporting