At least 18 people have died in the outbreak of tornadoes that have ripped through the Midwestern and southern United States, leaving dozens hospitalized and thousands without power.
The death toll could rise in the coming hours as emergency services from the hardest-hit states take to the streets to assess damage and find survivors.
Seven of the reported deaths are from Tennessee, five from Arkansas, three from Indiana, one from Illinois, one from Alabama, and one more from Mississippi.
In response to the death toll, President Joe Biden reached out to Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott and Wynn Mayor Jennifer Hobbs, who represent two Arkansas cities. suffered the most damage from the tornadoes, according to a White House statement.
Huckabee, a Republican who served as White House press secretary under Donald Trump, mobilized 100 members of the National Guard Reserve Corps to respond to impacts from the tornado, and declared a state of emergency so that resources of the National Guard state are assigned to the service of search tasks.
Also, in northern Illinois, tornadoes have left “absolute chaos,” according to Belvidere Police Chief Shane Woody, the Chicago Tribune noted.
The tornadoes partially collapsed the roof of a theater where 260 people were attending a heavy metal concert, leaving at least one dead and 28 injured, five of whom are in serious condition, the Belvidere Fire Department said.
In Indiana, strong winds and torrential rains have made some areas in the city of Sullivan “unrecognizable,” according to the town’s mayor, Clint Lamb.
Structurally, the tornadoes have left about 60,000 homes without power in Tennessee, and 37,000 in Arkansas, with these being the hardest-hit states, according to data from PowerOutage.us.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), tornadoes were reported Friday night in Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Mississippi.
The storm is expected to move east on Saturday, so high wind watches have been issued in Georgia and Alabama.
With information from the EFE agency