Deadly Tornadoes Strikes Across Southern U.S.

Deadly tornadoes reportedly struck across several south-eastern states, flipping cars and flattening homes as well as killing 34 people, including 12 in Missouri alone.

In Kansas, at least eight people died after more than 55 vehicles were involved in a crash due to a dust storm.

More than 250,000 properties were without power across seven states – including Michigan, Missouri and Illinois – overnight into Sunday, according to tracker PowerOutage.

Further severe weather is expected for the region, with tornado watches issued across eastern Louisiana, western Georgia, central Tennessee and the western Florida Panhandle.

Six deaths were reported in Mississippi by the Governor Tate Reeves, as several tornadoes spread across the state.

Flash flooding and flood warnings have also been issued in central Mississippi, eastern Louisiana and western Tennessee; as well as parts of Alabama and Arkansas, as severe weather continues to track across the south-east.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has said these flash floods could prove deadly.
Multiple tornado warnings were also issued across Alabama on Saturday night.

The NWS warned of “multiple intense to violent long-track tornadoes” in those areas, describing the situation as “particularly dangerous”.

The meteorological agency said: “If you live in these areas, get to the sturdiest structure you have access to and remain in place until the storm pass”.

Mike Kehoe, governor of Missouri, said the state had been “devastated by severe storms and tornadoes, leaving homes destroyed and lives lost”.

Missouri’s emergency management agency said initial reports indicated 19 tornadoes had struck 25 counties so far.
A home belonging to one of the 12 people killed in Missouri was torn apart by a tornado.

“It was unrecognisable as a home. Just a debris field,” Coroner Jim Akers of Butler County told CBS News, as rescuers attended the scene.
“The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls.”

A dust storm that caused three deaths in Texas on Friday night caused a pile-up of an estimated 38 cars.

“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen,” Sgt Cindy Barkley, of the state’s department of public safety, told reporters.
“We couldn’t tell that they were all together until the dust kind of settled.”
A further death has since been reported in Texas.

The destructive storms fuelled more than 100 wildfires in several central states and overturned multiple semi-trailer trucks, CBS reports.

Peak tornado season in Tornado Alley is from May to June – but meteorologists caution that tornadoes can occur at any time of year.

BBC/Ejiofor Ezeifeoma