Wednesday 25 / December / 2024
Washington: At least 21 people have been killed after devastating storms and tornadoes scraped the South and Midwest parts of the United States Friday into early Saturday and dozens were reported injured, according to CNN.
New four deaths were reported in Illinois during Friday's severe weather outbreak, increasing the total number to 21. According to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center, on Friday and Saturday, more than 60 tornadoes have been reported across the state, as per the report in the Washington Post.
US State officials said that a "large and destructive tornado" struck Little Rock and elsewhere in Arkansas on Friday afternoon, ripping through homes.
LaTresha Woodruff, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, said that four people had been killed northeast of Little Rock, in Cross County. In Wynne, pictures showed that neighbourhoods and the town's high school had sustained extensive damage.
Wynne awoke Saturday morning to rescue crews looking through flattened homes and businesses, sifting the debris strewn through town. It was unlike anything longtime residents in this place that calls itself "The City with a Smile" could recall, according to The Washington Post.
"We were in utter disbelief," he said. "I've lived in this community since 1985. I know the whole county pretty well. Not being able to recognize landmarks just has me in shock. You can't even tell where you are in some places. ... I saw a storage building laying three miles down the road from where it was supposed to be," as per the report in The Washington Post.
After the report of various tornadoes in Arkansas, the governor declared a state of emergency Friday afternoon after officials said one person was killed in North Little Rock and two died in Wynne. A state of emergency was also declared in Missouri in response to severe weather.
On Friday night in northern Illinois, a person was killed and 28 others were hospitalized after the roof collapsed at a theatre in Belvidere with 260 people inside, told the fire chief, Shawn Schadle, reported New York Times.
Roughly 150 miles to the east of Sherman, in Sullivan Country, Ind., three people were also killed after a tornado touched down, according to Sgt. Matt Ames with the Indiana State Police.
In addition to Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana and Tennessee, tornadoes were reported to the National Weather Service across Wisconsin, Iowa and Mississippi. As the storm system moved eastward early Saturday, tornado warnings remained in place for parts of Alabama and Georgia, according to the National Weather Service.
Friday's severe storms came a week after severe weather walloped the Southeast and killed at least 26 people. An overnight tornado, which makes people most prone to extensive damages, levelled much of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, where estimated maximum winds of 170 mph roared.
President Biden on Friday visited Rolling Fork, the Mississippi community hit hardest by the tornadoes last week. Tornadoes killed 13 people and destroyed homes and businesses in Rolling Fork and in surrounding Sharkey County.
