Killer storms hit parts of US
A violent storm packing high winds and heavy rains ripped through southern and midwestern sections of the US as it headed east on Saturday, leaving at least 22 dead and scores injured, according to officials and media reports.
At least five people were killed in Arkansas as first responders sifted through debris for more possible victims after tornadoes sliced through the state on Friday. Officials also reported four deaths in Illinois and three in Indiana.
Meanwhile, the Tennessee department of health confirmed seven weather-related deaths in McNairy County, at the Mississippi border. Tennessee Emergency Management Agency director Patrick Sheehan said the number of people injured and damaged structures was not yet determined.
Just south of the Tennessee border in Madison County, Alabama, 90-year-old Ovie Lasater was killed when a tornado destroyed her home, county coroner Tyler Berryhill said.
Fox News reported another death in Pontotoc County in neighbouring Mississippi.
In Illinois, three people were killed in Crawford County after the collapse of a residential structure, the state Emergency Management Agency said.
These were in addition to a man who died in Belvidere, a city in northern Illinois, after a roof collapsed at a theatre with 260 people inside. Dan Zaccard, a senior emergency management official, said the incident left 40 people injured.
The crowd at the city’s Apollo Theatre was attending a concert featuring the heavy-metal group Morbid Angel.
POWER OUTAGES
One person was killed in Sussex County, Delaware, after a line of powerful storms tore through the region on Saturday night, an ABC News affiliate reported.
The National Weather Service on Saturday warned of thunderstorms moving across the eastern third of the US that were likely to result in power outages and downed trees from winds with gusts of more than 100km/h.
Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said there were five confirmed dead in the state. “We have a couple of others that have been reported, but we do not have confirmation from local law enforcement on the ground,” she said.
Four of the Arkansas fatalities were reported in Wynne, about 160km east of Little Rock, Cross County coroner Eli Long said.
One person was killed and more than 50 people were admitted to hospital in North Little Rock, Pulaski County spokesperson Madeline Roberts told the Washington Post.
US President Joe Biden spoke with Huckabee Sanders and the mayors of Little Rock and Wynne, the White House said in a statement. He also spoke with Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell.
Huckabee Sanders said Biden and homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, offered federal government support.