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.
Of the weather-stricken states, Tennessee has paid the heaviest price. The local disaster management agency spokeswoman reported seven deaths, all of which occurred in McNairy County, east of Memphis. Devastating tornadoes also swept through Arkansas on Friday, killing five people, the governor of this rural southern American state said at 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 that many people have had to be displaced and are looking for refuge “, detailed the mayor of Little Rock. “ The roof of some buildings was completely blown off “said a journalist for a local economic publication on Friday. “ The neighborhood was simply completely razed and destroyed “. The town of Wynne, in the northeast of the state, was “ basically bisected by the damage from east to west “, explained its mayor to CNN.
Mississippi authorities have reported one death and several injuries in Pontotoc County, about 200 km 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.
Collapse of a building in the middle of a concert
In the north of the country, in the small town of Belvidere, part of the roof and the facade of the Apollo Theater collapsed in the middle of a concert by a heavy metal band due to the passage of a violent storm. The fire chief of this locality located west of Chicago (Illinois) reported one death and 28 injuries, including five hospitalized with serious injuries.
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.
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(With AFP)