A tornado outbreak in Missouri claims ten lives, and extensive damage is seen in St. Louis County.
As fierce winds swept eastward into the Mississippi Valley and Deep South on Saturday, the danger of strong tornadoes in some parts of the United States proved both deadly and destructive, resulting in the deaths of at least 16 people and the destruction of numerous homes.
Missouri, which was hit by twisters overnight that killed at least ten people, had the highest number of fatalities as of Saturday morning, according to authorities. Multiple injuries were also reported by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
One of the fatalities was a man whose house was destroyed by a tornado.
It could not have been a home. When rescuers arrived, they were met with what Coroner Jim Akers of Butler County described as "just a rubble field." The floor was inverted. We were on walls.
According to Akers, a woman was saved within the house by rescuers.
As storms swept through Arkansas overnight, officials reported Saturday morning that 29 people were hurt in eight counties and three people died in Independence County.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders stated on X, "We have first responders on the ground to assist and teams out inspecting the damage from last night's tornadoes." “To offer resources for this effort for each of the affected areas, I recently issued (US) $250,000 from our Disaster Recovery fund.”
Meanwhile, authorities reported that three people died in car wrecks during a dust storm in Amarillo, Texas, on Friday.
The deaths occurred when winds from a major storm system that was sweeping the nation caused more than 100 wildfires and catastrophic dust storms.
The centre said parts of Mississippi including Jackson and Hattiesburg and areas of Alabama including Birmingham and Tuscaloosa would be at a high risk. Severe storms and tornadoes were also possible across eastern Louisiana, western Georgia, central Tennessee and the western Florida Panhandle.
Wildfires break out amid dry, gusty conditions
A blaze in Roberts County, Texas, northeast of Amarillo, quickly blew up from less than a square mile (about 2 square kilometres) to an estimated 32.8 square miles (85 square kilometres), the Texas A&M University Forest Service said on X. Crews stopped its advance by Friday evening.
About 60 miles (90 kilometres) to the south, another fire grew to about 3.9 square miles (10 square kilometres) before its advance was halted in the afternoon.
High winds also knocked out power to more than 260,000 homes and businesses in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, according the website poweroutage.us.
Blizzard warnings in Northern Plains
Winds gusting to 60 mph (97 km/h) were expected to cause whiteout conditions.
Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia, and Golden from Seattle. Associated Press journalists from across the U.S. contributed.
