The death toll resulting from the devastating storms and tornadoes that swept the South and Midwest of the US increased to 32, while other parts of the Southern plains suffered their turn of harsh weather conditions, reported CNN Sunday.
The devastation started when the tornadoes — at least 50 reported by Washington Post in seven states — plowed through the neighbourhoods, ripping off roofs, and causing damage to hundreds of houses and other property.
A town of Wyenne in Arkansas was ripped — with four people dead — leaving a line of destruction from the city’s western limit to its eastern, said Mayor Jennifer Hobbs.
He told CNN that “We’re just gonna need all the help that we can [get] to help these families recover.”
There have been multiple deaths and hundreds of victims in the tornado-stricken Arkansas, Indiana and Tennessee, where the statewide death toll rose to 15 Sunday, officials said.
In Memphis, at least two children and one adult were found dead when police reached the scene shortly after receiving emergency calls, the Memphis Police Department said in a news release.
Nine others also died in McNairy County, Tennessee, County Mayor Larry Smith told CNN.
The storm “crossed our county completely from one side to the other,” Sheriff Guy Buck told CNN on Saturday evening.
Five deaths were reported in Indiana and four in Illinois. State authorities also reported one dead in Mississippi, Delaware and Alabama.
It is the latest series of tornadoes across the South and Midwest of the US after the destructive storms of Rolling Fork Mississippi claimed at least another 26, leaving destruction and misery behind as it advanced to other states.
The Storm Prediction Center noted that there are threats to the Southern Plains, where nearly 13 million people in north Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth area, face an enhanced – or level 3 of 5 – risk for severe weather in the afternoon and early evening hours.
Officials noted that the Dallas Office of Emergency Management activated its sirens for the city “due to large hail” with the flights grounded at Dallas airports.
The National Weather Service has issued tornado observation for parts of Oklahoma and Texas until 11 pm CDT. There are over 10 million people included in the radar, with areas also included like Dallas, Forth Worth and Waco.
“Several tornadoes are possible, a couple of which may be strong,” the centre said in a statement updating on Sunday adding that “there was a 10% or greater probability of tornadoes between EF-2 and EF-5 strength within 25 miles around the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.”
