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Washington (AFP) – The strong storms and tornadoes that hit the United States over the weekend raised the death toll to 29 in addition to leaving dozens injured, according to the latest balances from local authorities released this Sunday.
Two children and one adult died in Memphis, Tennessee, when trees fell on their homes, local police said Sunday, bringing the death toll in the southern state to 12.
With this, the balance of deaths in the country rose from 26 to 29.
Scenes of devastation were left in the path of the tornado across Tennessee, where it twisted trees and flattened homes.
“I could feel the whole house shaking,” said Janice Pieterick, whose home saw glass doors and windows explode as the tornado ripped through Lewis County. “We all huddled together,” she recounted.
These deaths are in addition to those registered in the states of Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama, in the south, and in Indiana and Illinois in the American Midwest, as well as in Delaware, in the east.
“We are working closely with the state of Indiana and other affected states as they assess the damage and stand ready to respond to any additional requests for federal assistance,” US President Joe Biden said Sunday after expressing support for the victims and their supporters. families.
Emergency
Multiple tornadoes, some of exceptional size and power, tore through parts of the state of Arkansas. At least five people died there, according to the governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who had declared a general state of emergency and mobilized the National Guard.
The capital Little Rock was hit hard. Its residents awoke Saturday to a bleak picture of overturned cars, huge trees uprooted from the ground, broken phone lines and vandalized homes.
“We know that many people have been displaced and are seeking shelter,” said Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.
In neighboring Mississippi (South), where a tornado last week left 25 dead, emergency management services also reported one death and several injuries in Pontotoc County, south of Memphis.
Alabama recorded the death of an elderly person when his home was destroyed by a tornado, Huntsville authorities said.
tragic concert
In the state of Illinois (central-eastern United States) severe storms also caused death and serious damage.
In the early hours of Saturday, the city of Belvidere was shaken by a powerful tornado that caused the roof and part of the facade of the Apollo Theater to collapse, in the middle of a concert by a heavy metal band.
Belvidere Fire Chief Shawn Schadle confirmed one death and 28 injured, five with serious injuries.
In Crawford County, three people died from a house collapse, Illinois Emergency Management Agency spokesman Kevin Sur said.
And on their side, authorities from the neighboring state of Indiana confirmed the deaths of three people after a storm swept through Sullivan County.
In Delaware, one person died from the collapse of “a structure” in Sussex County, according to authorities.
heading north
In the passage through the northeast of the country, the hardest hit were Ohio and Pennsylvania.
More than 230,000 homes were still without electricity on Sunday in several northeastern states of the country, according to the website poweroutage.us.
Tornadoes, a weather phenomenon as impressive as it is difficult to predict, are common in the United States, especially in the center and south.
A week ago, a tornado ripped through Mississippi, killing 25 people and causing extensive property damage. President Joe Biden visited the site on Friday.
In December 2021, around 80 people were killed by tornadoes in Kentucky.
