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Dozens killed after violent tornadoes, dust storms hit multiple U.S. states

Tornadoes killed at least 32 people across several states in the U.S. Midwest and Southeast on Saturday night, part of a monster storm strong enough to topple tractor-trailers and wipe out hundreds of buildings.

'The amount of damage was catastrophic,' says Mississippi resident

Dozens killed after violent tornadoes hit multiple U.S. states

13 hours ago
Duration 4:10
Tornadoes killed more than 30 people across several states in the U.S. Midwest and southeast on Saturday night, part of a monster storm strong enough to topple tractor-trailers and wipe out hundreds of buildings.

Tornadoes killed at least 32 people across several states in the U.S. Midwest and Southeast on Saturday night, part of a monster storm strong enough to topple tractor-trailers and wipe out hundreds of buildings.

Twenty-six tornadoes were reported but not confirmed to have touched down late on Friday night and into Saturday as a low-pressure system drove powerful thunderstorms across parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri, said David Roth, a meteorologist at the U.S. National Weather Service.

The number of fatalities increased after the Kansas Highway Patrol reported eight people died in a highway pileup caused by a dust storm in Sherman County Friday. At least 50 vehicles were involved.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves posted on X that six deaths had been reported in the state – one in Covington County, two in Jeff Davis County and three in Walthall County. According to preliminary assessments, 29 people were injured statewide and 21 counties sustained storm damage, Reeves said.

A person sits on the porch of a destroyed home.
Tim Scott sits on the stairs of his home that was destroyed overnight during a severe storm in Wayne County in Missouri on Saturday. (Jeff Roberson/The Associated Press)

Missouri reported 12 fatalities spanning five counties, more than any other state, the state's highway patrol posted on X.

Officials in Arkansas said three people died in Independence County and 32 others were injured across eight counties as storms passed through the state.

Robbie Myers, the director of emergency management in Missouri's Butler County, told reporters that more than 500 homes, a church and grocery store in the county were destroyed. A mobile home park had been "totally destroyed," he said.

an above-ground pool is seen with debris from a nearby house strewn all around the pool deck
Debris lies around a badly damaged home the morning after a tornado touched down in Florissant, Mo., on Saturday. (Lawrence Bryant/Reuters)

"It was unrecognizable as a home. Just a debris field," said Coroner Jim Akers of Missouri's Butler County, describing the scene that confronted rescuers. "The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls."

Dakota Henderson said he and others rescuing people trapped in their homes Friday night found five dead bodies scattered in the debris outside what remained of his aunt's house in hard-hit Wayne County in Missouri.

a house destroyed with debris from inside in the yard
An aerial view shows the damage on Saturday in Florissant, Mo. (Lawrence Bryant/Reuters)

"It was a very rough deal last night," he said Saturday, surrounded by uprooted trees and splintered homes. "It's really disturbing for what happened to the people, the casualties last night."

Henderson said they rescued his aunt from a bedroom that was the only room left standing in her house, taking her out through a window. They also carried out a man who had a broken arm and leg.

People clean up debris in a tornado-hit area.
People clear debris following a severe storm in Cave City, Ark., on Saturday. (Staci Vandagriff/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/The Associated Press)

On Friday, meanwhile, authorities said three people were killed in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle.

Affected areas home to more than 100 million

The deaths came as a massive storm system moving across the country unleashed winds that triggered deadly dust storms and fanned more than 100 wildfires.

Extreme weather conditions were forecast to affect an area home to more than 100 million people. Winds gusting up to 130 km/h were predicted from the Canadian border to Texas, threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and wildfire risk in warmer, drier places to the south.

The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of far western Minnesota and far eastern South Dakota starting early Saturday. Snow accumulations of about 7.5 to 15 centimetres were expected, with up to 30 centimetres possible.

Debris and hail cover a road.
Debris and hail cover the road during a severe storm north of Seymour, Mo., late Friday. (Trooper Austin James/Missouri State Highway Patrol/The Associated Press)

Winds gusting to 97 km/h were expected to cause whiteout conditions.

Evacuations were ordered in some Oklahoma communities as more than 130 fires were reported across the state. Nearly 300 homes were damaged or destroyed. Gov. Kevin Stitt said at a Saturday news conference that some 689 square kilometres had burned in his state.

The State Patrol said winds were so strong that they toppled several tractor-trailers.

Experts said it's not unusual to see such weather extremes in March.

Bailey Dillon, 24, and her fiancé, Caleb Barnes, watched a massive tornado from their front porch in Tylertown, Miss., about 800 metres away as it struck an area near Paradise Ranch RV Park.

They drove over afterward to see if anyone needed help and recorded a video depicting snapped trees, levelled buildings and overturned vehicles.

"The amount of damage was catastrophic," Dillon said. "It was a large amount of cabins, RVs, campers that were just flipped over — everything was destroyed."

Paradise Ranch reported on Facebook that all its staff and guests were safe and accounted for, but Dillon said the damage extended beyond the ranch itself.

People stand in front of a house damaged by a tornado with trash and debris strewn across the lawn
Residents inspect the damage after a tornado touched down Friday in Florissant, a city in Missouri. (Lawrence Bryant/Reuters)

"Homes and everything were destroyed all around it," she said. "Schools and buildings are just completely gone."

Some of the imagery from the extreme weather has gone viral.

Tad Peters and his dad, Richard Peters, had pulled over to fuel up their pickup truck in Rolla, Mo., Friday night when they heard tornado sirens and saw other motorists flee the interstate to park.

A person leans on a highway guardrail next to a upturned tractor trailer truck.
Mark Nelson waits with his tractor-trailer after it overturned during high winds in Villa Ridge, Mo., on Friday. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/The Associated Press)

"Whoa, is this coming? Oh, it's here. It's here," Tad Peters can be heard saying on a video. "Look at all that debris. Ohhh. My God, we are in a torn ..."

His father then rolled up the truck window. The two were headed to Indiana for a weightlifting competition but decided to turn around and head back home to Norman, Okla., about six hours away, where they encountered wildfires.

Wildfires elsewhere in the Southern Plains threatened to spread rapidly amid warm, dry weather and strong winds in Texas, Kansas, Missouri and New Mexico.

A firefighter sprays water on a house on fire, standing in front of a fire truck
Firefighters battle a house fire during a wildfire outbreak in Stillwater, Okla., on Friday. (Nick Oxford/Reuters)

A blaze in Roberts County, Texas, northeast of Amarillo, quickly blew up from about two square kilometres to an estimated 85 square kilometres, the Texas A&M University Forest Service said on X. Crews stopped its advance by Friday evening.

About 90 kilometres to the south, another fire grew to about 10 square kilometres before its advance was halted in the afternoon.