The death toll rose to 32 Sunday after a batch of ferocious storms and tornadoes devastated communities across the American South and Midwest, while parts of the Southern Plains braced for their own round of severe weather.
Ednews reports citing CNN that the storm outbreak Friday that walloped the country spawned more than 50 tornado reports in at least seven states, where tornadoes crushed homes and businesses, ripped roofs off buildings, splintered trees and sent vehicles flying.
Wynne, Arkansas – where at least four people died – was cleaved in half by one such tornado, leaving a line of destruction from the city’s western limit to its eastern, according to Mayor Jennifer Hobbs, who told CNN Sunday, “We’re just gonna need all the help that we can (get) to help these families recover.” About 100 miles southwest, another person died in North Little Rock.
Deaths have been confirmed across a wide swath of states, with multiple victims in Arkansas, Indiana and Tennessee, where the statewide death toll rose to 15 Sunday, officials said. Three of the deaths were in Memphis: Two children and one adult were found dead after police responded to calls about trees that had fallen on homes, the Memphis Police Department said in a news release.
Nine others died in McNairy County, Tennessee, County Mayor Larry Smith confirmed to CNN Sunday. The storm “crossed our county completely from one side to the other,” Sheriff Guy Buck told CNN Saturday evening as authorities continued to search collapsed buildings.
There were at least five deaths in Indiana and four people killed in Illinois, including one person who died after the roof of the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere collapsed Friday while more than 200 people were gathered for a heavy metal concert. State and local officials also reported one death in Alabama, Mississippi and Delaware.
