At least 18 people were killed by tornadoes and severe storms that hit the states of Arkansas, Indiana and Illinois on Friday. Strong winds and thunderstorms are now moving towards the northeast of the country.
Considerable damage and a total of 18 dead, according to a provisional report, in three states. At least five people were killed, and nearly thirty were injured, Friday, March 31, by a powerful tornado which swept the State of Arkansas in the south of the United States. Tennessee has seven fatalities due to severe weather, all of which occurred in McNairy County, east of Memphis, state disaster management agency spokeswoman Maggie Hannan told AFP. .
The inhabitants of Little Rock, the capital, woke up on Saturday to overturned cars, huge uprooted trees, broken telephone poles and gutted houses. The town of Wynne, in the northeast of the state, is “basically cut in two by the damage from east to west,” lamented the mayor Jennifer Hobbs with CNN. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders had declared a state of emergency the day before and deployed around 100 National Guardsmen.
nearly 54,000 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. 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 a waist-deep pile of debris and a gaping hole in the roof in the venue.
In the neighboring state of Indiana, three people were killed by a storm in Sullivan County, according to authorities, quoted by several American media.
At least 154,000 homes were without electricity on Saturday according to the American site Poweroutage. The National Weather Service has also warned of high winds and severe storms that could hit the northeast of the country, including Ohio.
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.