Over the weekend, devastating storms swept across eight states in the South and Midwest, resulting in at least 42 fatalities. These powerful weather events unleashed tornadoes, blinding dust, and wildfires, leading to extensive damage including uprooted trees and hundreds of homes and businesses reduced to rubble.
Meteorologists issued a rare โhigh riskโ warning for this storm system, which began its path of destruction on Friday before diminishing by Sunday. As residents in the impacted regions assess the extensive damage, there is concern about the potential for more severe weather in the coming days.
The states hardest hit by these storms were Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, and North Carolina. Missouri saw the highest number of storm-related fatalities with 13 confirmed deaths due to tornadoes. Mississippi experienced six fatalities under similar circumstances.
In Oklahoma, ongoing wildfires and high winds were accountable for four deaths, including a fatal car crash due to poor visibility and a person discovered in a fire-damaged home. Kansas and Texas reported vehicle accidents linked to dust storms, which resulted in eight fatalities in Kansas and three in Texas. Additionally, Alabama and Arkansas each recorded three fatalities.
A tragic incident in North Carolina claimed the lives of two young boys, aged 11 and 13, when a storm-felled tree struck their home on Sunday, as reported by local firefighting authorities.
The onslaught of tornadoes was significant, with preliminary reports indicating 46 tornadoes on Friday and 41 on Saturday, according to Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Among those, two powerful tornadoes struck the same Mississippi county within an hour on Saturday, with early ratings of EF-2 and EF-3. These tornadoes inflicted severe damage in Walthall County and Tylertown, Mississippi.
In addition to tornadoes, wildfires, fueled by strong winds, wreaked havoc in Oklahoma. Officials from both Oklahoma and Texas alerted residents to a continuing heightened risk of fires in the upcoming days. Oklahoma reported more than 130 wildfires on Friday, causing damage to over 400 homes.
High winds also led to significant dust storms, with at least 50 vehicles involved in a highway pile-up in Kansas on Friday, resulting in at least eight deaths, as confirmed by the Kansas Highway Patrol. Similar conditions in the Texas Panhandle city of Amarillo led to three fatalities from vehicle crashes.
Though the weekend tornado watches have mostly been lifted, the National Weather Service warned that dangerously strong winds remained a threat in the Carolinas, eastern Georgia, and northern Florida through Sunday. Another weather system was on the horizon, moving from the Rockies into the Plains, with the risk of winter conditions picking up on Tuesday. States such as Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan might experience significant snowfall and high winds, creating hazardous conditions. Meanwhile, in the southern Plains, drier weather is expected to increase the risk of wildfires.
President Donald Trump announced that the federal government was closely monitoring the situation and is prepared to provide support to state and local authorities in the recovery efforts. He confirmed that National Guard troops have been dispatched to assist in Arkansas.