US Tornadoes Death Toll Reaches 29; 400,000 Homes Lose Electricity

(Photo : Benjamin Krain/Getty Images)
According to officials, the death toll from a significant storm system that struck the south-central and eastern United States with destructive winds and tornadoes increased to at least 29 by Sunday.

The death toll from a strong storm that spawned tornadoes across the Southern and Midwestern US rose to at least 29
Two children and an adult were discovered dead in Memphis, Tennessee, on Saturday
US President Joe Biden declared Arkansas a "major disaster" and ordered federal aid for its recovery

The death toll rose to 29, and more deadly weather was predicted for a large swath of the South and Midwest, already devastated by storms that spawned confirmed or suspected tornadoes in at least eight states on Sunday.

At least nine people were killed in McNairy County, Tennessee, approximately 100 miles east of Memphis. Four of the fatalities occurred in the same structure, which was one of at least 72 structures destroyed in the county, according to Mayor Larry Smith.

US Tornadoes Death Toll

Christopher Williams, a police spokesman, stated that two children and an adult perished in Memphis after a tree fell on a home, most likely due to severe weather.

There were five documented fatalities in Indiana and four in Wynne, Arkansas. In addition to Arkansas, deaths were reported in Illinois, Alabama, Mississippi, and Delaware. Tornadoes may have reached as far north as New Jersey, USA Today reported.

On Sunday, severe winds and storms knocked out electricity to almost 400,000 homes and businesses in a dozen Southern and Eastern states, causing trees and power lines to fall and turning everything left outdoors into lethal projectiles.

National Weather Service's early data revealed that the tornado at the center of the destruction in Arkansas was an EF3 with speeds of up to 165 mph, 30 miles long, and 1.3 miles broad. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders had already activated the National Guard and declared a state of emergency.

President Joe Biden stated that he had informed Senator Bernie Sanders and officials from other affected states of his administration's willingness to assist with recovery efforts.

On Sunday, the meteorological agency cautioned that severe thunderstorms and flash flooding were possible throughout the southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley.

Regrettably, additional severe weather is anticipated in the coming days, according to the Little Rock, Arkansas, office of the National Weather Service. A strong storm system will approach the region from the west, and thunderstorms are predicted to develop Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Tennessee's fatality toll was in addition to the 17 reported in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama in the south, Indiana and Illinois in the Midwest, and Delaware in the mid-Atlantic region. The storm system left scores injured.

According News18, the governor of Arkansas stated that at least five persons were killed by several tornadoes, some of which were of unusual magnitude and strength. The northeast Arkansas city of Wynne was "split in half by destruction from east to west." "Jennifer Hobbs, the mayor, said.

Tornadoes Rake US Midwest, South

The storms in Illinois caused the collapse of a theatre roof during a heavy metal concert in Belvidere, resulting in one death and 28 injuries. Once the storms moved east on Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people in multiple states were left without electricity.

According to the US PowerOutage website, Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania were the hardest hit states. The National Weather Service of the United States issued severe thunderstorm warnings for portions of Texas on Sunday, with the chance of "extremely large hail and multiple tornadoes."

It is anticipated that the thunderstorms will also strike several other states. The catastrophic weather arrives a week after a rare, long-track tornado in Mississippi killed 26 people.

Last week's Mississippi tornado traveled 59 miles (94km) and lasted approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes, an exceptionally long duration for a storm to persist. According to officials, roughly 2,000 dwellings were damaged. On Friday, Biden traveled to the state to express his sympathies, as per BBC.

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