Washington: At least 32 people have died after strong tornadoes and deadly storms struck multiple states in the US South and Midwest over the weekend, authorities said.
In a report, CNN said that more than 50 preliminary tornado reports were recorded April 1 in at least seven states.
The powerful tornadoes crushed homes and businesses, ripped roofs off buildings, splintered trees and sent vehicles flying.
Wynne, Arkansas, where at least four people died, was cleaved in half by one such tornado, leaving a line of destruction from the city’s western limit to its eastern, according to Mayor Jennifer Hobbs, who told CNN Sunday: “We’re just gonna need all the help that we can (get) to help these families recover.”
About 100 miles southwest, another person died in North Little Rock.
Deaths have been confirmed across a wide swath of states, with multiple victims in Arkansas, Indiana and Tennessee, where the statewide death toll rose to 15 Sunday, officials said.
Three of the deaths were in Memphis: Two children and one adult were found dead after police responded to calls about trees that had fallen on homes, the Memphis Police Department said in a statement.
Nine others died in McNairy County, Tennessee, County Mayor Larry Smith confirmed to CNN on Sunday.
The storm “crossed our county completely from one side to the other”, Sheriff Guy Buck told CNN on Saturday evening as authorities continued to search collapsed buildings.
There were at least five deaths in Indiana and four in Illinois, including one person who died after the roof of the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere collapsed on April 1 while more than 200 people were gathered for a heavy metal concert.
State and local officials also reported one death in Alabama, Mississippi and Delaware.
This latest devastation comes just a week after a massive tornado levelled a town in Mississippi, claiming 25 lives, reports Xinhua news agency.
The 26th death was reported in Alabama during the same round of turbulent weather.
The storm threat has now shifted to the Southern Plains, where nearly 13 million people in north Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth area, face an enhanced — or level 3 of 5 — risk for severe weather in the afternoon and early evening hours, the Storm Prediction Center said.
The Dallas Office of Emergency Management activated its sirens for the city “due to large hail” as flights were grounded at Dallas airports, according to officials.
Both the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field Airport issued ground stops as severe weather rolled into Texas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Flights were temporarily grounded but have since resumed, the FAA said.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for parts of Oklahoma and Texas.