At least 18 people have died in the south and east-central United States as tornadoes and severe storms ripped homes and businesses to pieces, while the northeastern part of the country braced Saturday for possible powerful storms.
Tennessee notably deplores seven deaths due to severe weather, all of which occurred in McNairy County, east of Memphis, Maggie Hannan, spokeswoman for the management agency, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). state disasters.
Devastating tornadoes also swept through Arkansas on Friday, killing five people, said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the governor of this rural state in the American South, during a press conference.
Little Rock, the capital, was hit hard. Residents woke up to overturned cars, huge uprooted trees, broken telephone poles and gutted houses.
“We know a lot of people have had to be relocated and are looking for shelter,” Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.
“The roof of some buildings was completely blown off,” Lara Farrar, a journalist for a local business publication, told AFP on Friday. “The neighborhood was simply completely razed and destroyed.”
The town of Wynne, in the northeastern part of the state, was “basically cut in half by the damage from east to west,” Mayor Jennifer Hobbs told CNN.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who said on Saturday that she had discussed the situation with President Joe Biden, had declared a state of emergency the day before and deployed around 100 National Guardsmen.
Mississippi authorities have reported one death and several injuries in Pontotoc County, about 200 kilometers south of Memphis.
An elderly person was also killed in Alabama when a tornado hit his house, detailed the authorities of the city of Huntsville, near the border with Tennessee.
650,000 households without electricity
In the north of the country, in the small town of Belvidere, west of Chicago in the State of Illinois, part of the roof and the facade of the Apollo Theater collapsed in the middle of a concert. a heavy metal band due to a severe thunderstorm.
Shawn Schadle, Belvidere Fire Chief, reported one death and 28 injuries, including five hospitalized with serious injuries.
Television footage showed injured spectators being evacuated on stretchers, and photos on social media showed the venue had a waist-high pile of debris and a gaping hole in the roof.
In the neighboring state of Indiana, three people were killed by a storm in Sullivan County, according to authorities, quoted by several American media.
More than 650,000 homes were without power Saturday in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia, according to the American site PowerOutage.
The National Weather Service has also warned of high winds, potential tornadoes and severe storms that could hit the northeast on Saturday, including Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York State, with gusts of up to 95 km/h.
Tornadoes, meteorological phenomena as impressive as they are difficult to predict, are common in the United States, especially in the center and south of the country.
A week ago, a tornado swept through Mississippi, killing 25 people and causing immense property damage. President Joe Biden visited the site on Friday.
In December 2021, about 80 people lost their lives after tornadoes hit Kentucky.