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At least 26 dead in tornadoes in the south and north-central US

Destruction at the Robinson Municipal Airport in Palestine, Illinois, on April 2, 2023.

At least 26 people were killed Saturday in dozens of tornadoes that ripped through small towns and large cities across the South and Midwest, trailing destruction from Arkansas to Illinois.

Other press reports and local authorities reported a total of 29 deaths.

Residents of the affected areas were shocked by the scope and breadth of damage in the region, which included homes and businesses, downed trees, and flattened neighborhoods across a wide swath of at least eight states.

There were at least nine deaths in one Tennessee county, four in the small town of Wynne, Arkansas, four in Illinois and three in nearby Sullivan, Indiana.

Other deaths from the storms were reported in Alabama and Mississippi and one more in Little Rock, Arkansas, where the mayor said more than 2,600 properties were in the path of a tornado.

Destruction at the Robinson Municipal Airport in Palestine, Illinois, on April 2, 2023.

Residents of Wynne, a community of about 8,000 about 50 miles west of Memphis, Tennessee, woke up Saturday to the news that the high school’s roof was smashed and windows were blown out.

Huge trees lay on the ground. Broken walls, windows, and ceilings were seen in all kinds of houses and businesses.

Debris was strewn inside the damaged homes and on the lawns: clothing, wall insulation, toys, splintered furniture and a van with broken windows.

Ashley Macmillan said she, her husband and their children took shelter with their dogs in a small bathroom as the tornado passed. A falling tree badly damaged her house, but they were unharmed.

“We felt how the house was shaking, we heard loud noises, dishes that rattled. And then everything calmed down,” she recounted.

There were already workers using chainsaws to cut downed trees and bulldozers moving remnants of destroyed structures. Crews of workmen restored electricity.

Nine people died in McNairy County, Tennessee, east of Memphis, said Patrick Sheehan, director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.

President Joe Biden declared Arkansas a “major disaster area” on Sunday and ordered federal recovery assistance.

The National Storm Prediction Center warned of severe weather Sunday for parts of north and northeast Texas around Dallas and Fort Worth, including significant hail and gusty winds “one or two strong tornadoes.”

Similar weather with thunderstorms was forecast for Tuesday for much of the Midwest between Chicago and Little Rock, Arkansas.

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