At least 26 people have died this weekend in the southern, central-eastern and eastern United States as a result of strong storms and tornadoes. The extreme weather has also left thousands of people without power and caused extensive damage, including the collapse of the roof of an Illinois theater at the time of a concert attended by 260 people.
The exact number of deaths is unknown and could increase in the coming hours as the emergency services of the most affected states go through the streets to assess the damage and find survivors. So far, local authorities have confirmed the deaths of 12 people in Tennessee, 5 in Arkansas, 4 in Illinois, 3 in Indiana, one in Alabama and one more in Mississippi.
In one of the most affected, Arkansas, a violent storm left in its path overturned cars, large trees uprooted, broken telephone poles and destroyed houses, in addition to killing five people. As a result, many people have had to relocate or are seeking refuge, the mayor of the city of Little Rock has reported.
Another of the most affected towns in Arkansas is Wynne, with 8,000 inhabitants, and where strong winds destroyed the roof and windows of the institute and also damaged homes and businesses. While in the north of the country, in the small town of Belvidere, in the State of Illinois, part of the roof and the facade of a theater collapsed when a concert by a heavy metal band was held. One person died and 28 were injured.
Apart from the human and infrastructure damage, the tornadoes have caused some 27,000 homes in Arkansas and another 17,000 in Tennessee to continue without electricity this Sunday, two of the most affected states, according to data from the PowerOutage.us website, which monitors this service. According to the National Weather Service, the storms could continue into the next week.
Especially dangerous could be Tuesday, when lightning storms are expected across parts of Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, among other southern and Midwestern states, according to the National Weather Service.
Tornadoes have hit the Midwest and South of the country just hours after Biden last Friday visited the town of Rolling Fork (Mississippi), which was devastated last week when a series of strong tornadoes hit the region, leaving 26 dead.
