Tornado watch continues as deadly US storms claim at least 35 lives

Residents surveyed the extensive damage caused by deadly storms that claimed at least 35 lives over the weekend in six states, even though parts of the country were still under a tornado watch.

The Carolinas, east Georgia, and northern Florida were still subject to tornado watches on Sunday morning, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Cody Snell. He claimed that although damaging winds would be the main threat, tornadoes could still occur.

As we approach the end of the day, Snell said, “As we go through the day, there still is the potential for severe weather from, say, the upper Ohio Valley and western Pennsylvania down through the rest of the mid-Atlantic and Southeast as we have this cold front that is still moving across the country, and it won’t clear the East Coast until later tonight.”

According to David Roth, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center, 26 tornadoes were reported but it is not known whether they touched down late on Friday or early on Saturday as a low-pressure system drew powerful thunderstorms through parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, and Missouri.

Weather forecasters gave the dynamic storm a unique “high risk” designation. However, experts claim that March weather extremes are not uncommon.

According to the website PowerOutage.com, at least 150, 000 customers are without power in the far-reaching area.

The state’s highway patrol posted on X the most fatalities in Missouri, with 12 total occurring across five counties.

More than 500 homes, a church, and a grocery store in Butler County, Missouri’s director of emergency management, reported to reporters. He claimed that a mobile home park had been “totally destroyed.”

“It’s really bad everything around here. There were fatalities in the trailer park up the street. We don’t have anything in comparison to anything like that, to be honest. My home is still there. They don’t, according to Butler County resident Rick Brittingham of Missouri, who spoke to Reuters.

Tate Reeves, the governor of Mississippi, reported on X that there were six fatalities in the state: one in Covington County, two in Jefferson Davis County, and three in Walthall County.

According to preliminary assessments, 21 counties suffered storm damage and 29 people were injured statewide, according to Reeves.

According to the state’s Department of Emergency Management, there were 32 injuries and three fatalities in Arkansas.

A severe dust storm caused a crash involving more than 50 cars in Sherman County, Kansas, that resulted in eight fatalities, the Kansas Highway Patrol said in a statement. Many travelers who suffered injuries were treated in-town.

Multiple tornadoes swept through central Alabama, killing at least three people. According to Dallas County Sheriff Michael Granthum, an 82-year-old woman was killed in a manufactured home that was destroyed by a twister.