WASHINGTON – The death toll from a major storm system of devastating winds and tornadoes that lashed the south-central and eastern United States rose to at least 32 on Sunday, officials said.
Tennessee was one of the hardest-hit states since the storms began on Friday, recording 15 deaths.
In Memphis, two children and an adult were found dead on Saturday after the storm’s heavy winds knocked trees onto several houses, according to the police department.
In Tennessee’s McNairy County, officials reported that an additional two people had died, having reported seven deaths earlier on Saturday, according to local media.
The Tennessee Department of Health on Sunday reported that there were an additional three weather-related deaths in three more counties, but did not provide more details.
Scenes of devastation were left in the path of the Tennessee tornado, which twisted trees and flattened homes into piles of wooden boards.
“The whole house, you could feel it shaking,” said Ms Janice Pieterick, whose house doors and glass windows blew out when the tornado swept through Lewis County. “We just all hunkered down.”
The toll in Tennessee came on top of the 17 deaths reported in Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama in the south, Indiana and Illinois in the Midwest, and Delaware in the mid-Atlantic.
The storm system also left dozens injured.
It sent multiple tornadoes – some of exceptional size and rare power – sweeping through Arkansas, where they killed at least five people, the state governor said.
Daylight revealed extensive damage, with several homes torn apart, cars overturned, power lines toppled and trees ripped out of the ground.
In a statement on Sunday, US President Joe Biden said: “We are working closely with the state of Indiana and other impacted states as they assess damages, and stand ready to respond to any additional requests for Federal assistance.”
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency and activated the national guard to help with recovery efforts.
She said she had spoken to Mr Biden, who promised to expedite federal aid.
The city of Wynne, in north-eastern Arkansas, was “cut in half by damage from east to west”, Mayor Jennifer Hobbs told CNN.
The National Weather Service had issued tornado warnings for several other states, from as far north as Iowa to the southern state of Mississippi, where a twister last week killed 25 people and caused extensive property damage.
Calamity struck on Friday in the Illinois town of Belvidere, outside of Chicago, when severe weather caused the roof and part of the facade of the Apollo Theatre to collapse while a heavy metal band played inside.
TV footage showed emergency personnel carrying out injured concertgoers on stretchers, while video posted on social media showed waist-high rubble on the floor of the venue and a gaping hole in the roof.
Belvidere Fire Chief Shawn Schadle reported one death and 28 injuries, including five people hospitalised in serious condition.
In Crawford County, southern Illinois, three people died when a house collapsed, likely from a tornado hit, said Mr Kevin Sur, spokesman for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
In the neighbouring state of Indiana, three people were killed by a storm in Sullivan County, on the border with Illinois.
Two campers were found dead after storms hit a state park in Owen County, the authorities said on Saturday.
Overnight tornadoes also claimed one life in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, and one in Madison County, Alabama, emergency officials reported.
More than 610,000 homes were without power on Saturday, according to the poweroutage.us website. The situation had improved by Sunday, but tens of thousands were still without electricity.
As the storm tracked towards the north-east, the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania suffered major outages from Saturday afternoon to Sunday.
One person in Sussex County, Delaware, died from a “collapsed structure” on Saturday evening, said the emergency operations centre, and several other counties in the area remained under high wind warnings.
“Maximum wind gusts could approach 60 miles per hour (97kmh) throughout much of the Appalachians, upper Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic,” the National Weather System warned.
Tornadoes are common in the US, especially in the centre and south of the country.
In December 2021, tornadoes killed about 80 people in Kentucky. AFP, REUTERS
