Local news shows that houses torn off roofs and large trucks have been overturned, and forecasters warn that more tornadoes will be coming this weekend.
Local police said eight people died in a crash involving more than 50 cars, due to low visibility in a “severe sandstorm.”
Missouri State Highway Patrol confirmed 12 storm-related deaths and shared images of ships stacked with each other on weather-destroyed docks.
State police reported that the fall of trees and power lines, as well as damage to buildings, have been severely affected by “tornadoes, thunderstorms and large hail.”
“It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced, it’s so fast that our ears are going to burst,” Alicia Wilson, who evacuated her home in Missouri, told TV KSDK.
Police said six deaths were reported in Wayne County, Missouri, and three of them were reported in Ozark County, among which multiple injuries were also reported – but each of Butler, Jefferson and St Louis counties.
Local authorities told AFP in southern Texas that four people died in car accidents related to dust storms and fires that reduced visibility on the road.
In neighboring Arkansas, officials said three people died, 29 of them were injured in the storm.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency and said she had spoken with President Donald Trump.
“He said he wanted to tell the people of Arkansas that he loved them, and that he and his government are here to help everything he needed after the tornado last night,” Sanders wrote on X.
By Saturday night, at least 200,000 households and businesses in the central U.S. were powerless, according to Tracking Site powerOutage.us.
Forecasts were made Saturday in central Gulf Coast states, including Mississippi and Tennessee.
“Many important tornadoes, some of which may be long treks, may continue until tonight,” the National Weather Service said.
A tornado is a rotating column of air that can touch the ground from a huge cloud of accumulated thunderstorms.
Due to unique geographical and meteorological conditions, Texas Central and South American states, Oklahoma and Kansas have gained the most violent countries.
Known as the “Tornado Alley”, it is a wide range of temperature winds encountered in volatile, effective storm clouds, and most storms occur from May to June.
In 2024, 54 people died in tornado-related incidents in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
