At least 18 dead in tornadoes and severe storms in the United States

Nick Rohlman The Gazette via Associated Press Tornadoes and severe storms have put houses and businesses to pieces. In this photo, a destroyed home in Wellman, Iowa.

At least 18 people died in the south and east-central United States as tornadoes and severe storms ripped homes and businesses to pieces as the northeast braced on Saturday to possible powerful thunderstorms.

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, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, governor of the rural Arkansas state, told a news conference. South American.

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 'a haven,' detailed Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. local economy. “The neighborhood was just completely flattened 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.

Authorities in Mississippi reported one dead and several injured in Pontotoc County, about 200 kilometers south of Memphis.

An elderly person was also killed in Alabama when a tornado touched down on his house, detailed the authorities of the city of Huntsville, close to the border with Tennessee.

650,000 homes 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 by a heavy metal band due to the passage of a violent storm.

Belvidere Fire Chief Shawn Schadle reported one dead and 28 injured with five hospitalized with serious injuries.

TV footage showed injured bystanders being carried away on stretchers and , on social media, photos showed a waist-deep pile of debris in the room 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 deprived 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 strong storms that could hit the northeast of the country, including Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York State, on Saturday with gusts of up to 95 km/h.

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Tornadoes, weather 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 extensive property damage. President Joe Biden visited the site on Friday.

In December 2021, approximately 80 people lost their lives after tornadoes struck Kentucky.