Violent tornadoes ripped through parts of the United States, destroying schools and toppling semitrailers in several states, as part of a monster storm that killed at least 32 people, with more severe weather expected later Saturday.
The number of fatalities rose after the Kansas Highway Patrol reported that eight people died in a highway pileup caused by a dust storm in Sherman County on Friday. At least fifty vehicles were involved.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced that six people had died in three counties, and three more were missing. There were 29 injuries throughout the state, he said in a nighttime post on the social media platform X.
Missouri had the most fatalities of any state, with at least 12 people killed overnight by scattered tornadoes, according to authorities. A man died after his home was destroyed by a tornado.
“It wasn’t recognizable as a home. Butler County Coroner Jim Akers described the scene that rescuers faced as “just a debris field.” “The floor was upside down. We were walking along walls.”
Dakota Henderson said he and others who were rescuing people trapped in their homes on Friday night discovered five bodies scattered in the debris outside his aunt’s house in Wayne County, Missouri.
“It was a very rough deal last night,” he said the next day, surrounded by downed trees and splintered houses. “It’s really disturbing for what happened to the people, the casualties last night.”
Henderson stated that they rescued his aunt from the only remaining bedroom and escorted her out through a window. They also carried out a man who had broken his arm and leg.
Arkansas officials reported three deaths in Independence County and 29 injuries across eight counties.
“We have teams out surveying the damage from last night’s tornadoes, and first responders are on the ground to assist,” Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on X.
She, Reeves, and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued declarations of emergency. Kemp said he was doing so in preparation for severe weather later in the day.
Meanwhile, authorities in Amarillo, Texas, reported three deaths in car accidents during a dust storm on Friday.
Extreme weather encompasses a zone of 100 million people
The deaths occurred as a massive storm system unleashed winds that caused deadly dust storms and sparked more than 100 wildfires.
Extreme weather was expected to affect a region with a population of more than 100 million. Winds gusting up to 80 mph (130 kph) were forecast from the Canadian border to Texas, threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and wildfires in warmer, drier areas to the south.
The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of far western Minnesota and far eastern South Dakota early Saturday. Snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 centimeters) were forecast, with up to a foot (30 centimeters) possible.
Winds gusting to 60 mph (97 kph) were predicted to cause whiteout conditions.
More than 130 fires were reported across Oklahoma, causing nearly 300 homes to be damaged or destroyed, prompting evacuations in some communities. At a news conference on Saturday, Gov. Kevin Stitt stated that the state had burned approximately 266 square miles (689 square kilometers).
According to the State Patrol, the winds were so strong that several tractor-trailers toppled.
According to experts, such weather extremes are common in March.
Tornadoes hit amid storm outbreak
Significant tornadoes continued to strike on Saturday, with the highest risk area extending from eastern Louisiana and Mississippi to Alabama, western Georgia, and the Florida panhandle, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
Bailey Dillon, 24, and her fiance, Caleb Barnes, watched a massive tornado strike an area about half a mile (0.8 km) away from their front porch in Tylertown, Mississippi, near Paradise Ranch RV Park.
They drove over afterward to see if anyone needed assistance and captured footage of snapped trees, leveled buildings, and overturned cars.
“The amount of damage was catastrophic,” Dillon stated. “It was a large amount of cabins, RVs, campers that were just flipped over — everything was destroyed.”
Paradise Ranch confirmed on Facebook that all staff and guests were safe and accounted for, but Dillon said the damage went beyond the RV park.
“Homes and everything were destroyed all around it,” she told me. “Schools and buildings are just completely gone.”
Some images of the severe weather went viral online.
Tad Peters and his father, Richard Peters, had stopped to fill up their pickup truck in Rolla, Missouri, on Friday night when they heard tornado sirens and noticed other drivers fleeing the interstate to park.
“Whoa! Is this coming? Oh, it is here. Tad Peters can be heard saying “It’s here” in a video. “Look at all the debris. Ohhh. My God, we’re torn…”
His father then rolled up the windows.
The two were on their way to Indiana for a weightlifting competition when they encountered wildfires and decided to return home to Norman, Oklahoma, about six hours away.
In Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and New Mexico, wildfires threatened to spread quickly due to warm, dry weather and strong winds.