Over the weekend, several communities in the Southern and Midwestern regions were left reeling in the aftermath of severe storms and tornadoes that caused widespread destruction and left a death toll of at least 22 people.
The ferocious storms resulted in more than 50 tornado sightings across seven states, including Arkansas and Tennessee, with homes, businesses, and vehicles being crushed or sent flying by the winds. Even public structures such as the Apollo Theatre in Illinois and a high school football field in Arkansas were not spared, and rescue crews were sifting through the debris in search of survivors in McNairy County, Tennessee, where at least seven people died. The impacted areas were left picking up the pieces and trying to come to terms with the devastation.
McNairy County Sheriff Guy Buck while addressing CNN said, “We had deaths on the west side of the county and all the way to the east side of the county,” describing a powerful storm cutting through the entire county.
Several states experienced fatalities due to recent events, with four individuals losing their lives in Illinois, three in Sullivan, Indiana, and four in Wynne, Arkansas. In response, the governors of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa declared emergency or disaster declarations in their respective states to provide immediate assistance to affected counties.
Although Little Rock, Arkansas, was severely damaged, there were no reported fatalities as of Saturday afternoon. The city is now focusing on the recovery and rebuilding process, according to Mayor Frank Scott Jr.
Scott Jr who is the mayor of Little Rock city told CNN that “It’s unbelievable anytime that you see, literally, vehicles flying across the air, structures being flattened, Many people were not at their homes, if they were, it would have been a massacre,”
According to the National Weather Service, a powerful tornado, rated EF-3, tore through Pulaski and Lonoke counties in Arkansas, with estimated peak winds of 165 mph. The tornado claimed one life in North Little Rock and four lives about 100 miles away in Wynne. The devastating tornado impacted nearly 2,600 structures in Little Rock, and around 50 people were sent to hospitals, as reported by the mayor.
Moreover, the recent severe weather has caused power outages in several states, including Arkansas, where more than 30,000 customers have been affected, according to poweroutage.us. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across the South and Northeast were left without power, with Pennsylvania and Ohio experiencing significant outages, affecting 134,000 and nearly 86,000 customers, respectively.
These destructive storms hit just after a severe tornado outbreak in the Southeast that resulted in the loss of at least 26 lives and devastated Rolling Fork, Mississippi, just last week. The recent severe weather has caused widespread destruction and has been devastating to many communities across several states, leaving many without power and in need of assistance.
CNN
