Multiple tornadoes have struck numerous small towns and large cities across the southern and midwestern United States, resulting in at least 26 fatalities.
A tree uprooted and collapsed onto a house after a tornado in the U.S. (Photo: AP).
A powerful storm system generated severe tornadoes on March 31. Tornadoes – both confirmed and unconfirmed – across at least eight states have destroyed homes and businesses, uprooted trees, and devastated neighborhoods across a wide area of the United States, according to AP reports.
At least 9 people have died in Tennessee, 4 in the small town of Wynne (Arkansas), 3 in Sullivan (Indiana), and 4 in Illinois.
Additional fatalities have been reported since the storm made landfall in Alabama and Mississippi, along with one victim near Little Rock (Arkansas).
A house destroyed by a tornado in Covington, Tennessee on April 1. (Photo: AP).
Residents of Wynne, a community of about 8,000 people located 80 km west of Memphis (Tennessee), woke up on April 1 to find their high school roof torn off and windows blown out.
Ashley Macmillan, a local resident, shared that she, her husband, their children, and their dogs huddled in a small bathroom as the tornado passed overhead. At the same time, they “prayed and said goodbye to each other, thinking we were going to die,” she recounted.
A fallen tree severely damaged their home, but they were fortunate to escape without injuries.
Damage from a tornado in Sullivan, Indiana on April 1. (Photo: AP).
According to Patrick Sheehan, the Director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, 9 people have died in McNairy County, Tennessee.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee drove to McNairy County on April 1 to survey the damage and reassure residents. He stated that the storm marked the “worst” week of his tenure as governor. This incident occurred just days after a school shooting in Nashville that left 6 people dead.
“What has happened in this community, this county, this state is truly terrible,” Lee said.
During a press conference on the morning of April 1, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. reported they had contacted President Biden regarding aid.
The governor declared a state of emergency on March 31, which activated access to assistance statewide, as reported by the New York Times.
