Violent weather broke out across the central and southern United States this weekend, sending tornadoes and high winds that flattened homes and schools, with the monstrous storm killing at least 39 people as of March 16.
The storm, which led to icy winter weather in the northern part of the country and fatal dust storms in the central United States, also created severe thunderstorms on March 16, including on the West Coast. A weather forecaster gave it the unusual “high risk” designation.
Tornadoes claimed at least a dozen lives in Missouri, decimating homes and businesses in hard-hit Wayne County. While authorities were still searching through the staggering tornado damage, Coroner Jim Akers of Butler County, Missouri, described one “unrecognizable home” where a man was killed as “just a debris field.”
“The floor was upside down,” he said. “We were walking on walls.”
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said six people had died in three counties and another three were missing on the evening of March 15 as the storm shifted east into Alabama, damaging homes and roads and leaving some impassable.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency, with officials confirming three deaths in the state. There was also at least one storm-related fatality in Alabama’s Dallas County, according to Sheriff Michael L. Granthum.
In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp also declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm’s passage into his state on March 16.
The Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency reposted a National Weather Service tornado watch for portions of southeast Georgia on its social media accounts early on the morning of March 16.
“We will continue to work closely with state and local officials to respond to damage and assess any needs following this weather event,” Kemp wrote.
The system’s early high winds created dust storms that killed at least a dozen people on March 14. According to the state highway patrol, eight people died in a Kansas highway pileup of at least 50 vehicles.
A dust storm in Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle claimed three lives via car crashes, authorities said.
The extreme weather event was expected to affect a massive area home to more than 100 million people, sending frigid blizzards across the North and fanning wildfires in the warm, dry areas of the South.
Officials ordered evacuations in some areas of Oklahoma, with more than 130 fires reported across the state and nearly 300 homes left damaged or destroyed. During a March 15 news conference, Gov. Kevin Stitt said roughly 266 square miles of land had burned, including one of his homes on a ranch northeast of Oklahoma City.
“The National Guard have been deployed to Arkansas, and my Administration is ready to assist State and Local Officials, as they help their communities to try and recover from the damage,” Trump said. “Please join Melania and me in praying for everyone impacted by these terrible storms!”
Beginning on the morning of March 15, the National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for areas stretching from western Minnesota into eastern South Dakota. Snowfall of three to six inches was expected, with a foot of snow possible. Winds causing whiteout conditions were also expected.
Dangerous tornadoes continued into the evening of March 15, with a region encompassing eastern Louisiana and Mississippi through Alabama, western Georgia, and the Florida Panhandle receiving the highest risk, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
