At least 33 people were killed when tornadoes, wildfires and dust storms ripped through Southern and Midwestern U.S. states over the weekend.
In Missouri 12 people died there including one man whose house was left “unrecognizable as a home,” according to Butler County Coroner Jim Akers.
Gov. Mike Kehoe visited some of the hardest hit areas of the Show Me State Saturday, which he said were devastated by deadly storms and their aftermath.
“Homes and businesses have been destroyed, entire communities are without power, and the road to recovery will not be easy,” Kehoe said in a statement.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a State of Emergency declaration after six people were killed over a 24-hour span of severe storms, tornadoes and an earthquake. Reeves said late Saturday that three people were known to be missing and 16,000 were without power before Sunday morning began.
Forecasters warned of “high risk” weather heading into the weekend.
The extreme weather conditions threatened to impact 100 million people, including those living in northern areas, where heavy winds laid the groundwork for blizzard conditions expected to include up to 6 inches of snow.
Nearly 300 homes were damaged in Oklahoma after more than 130 fires burned through a 266-square mile area, Gov. Kevin Stitt said Saturday. He blamed a combination of record low humidity levels and punishing winds for creating unfavorable conditions.
Bailey Dillon, 24, watched from her Tylertown, Miss., porch as a powerful twister passed an RV park roughly half a mile from her home.
“It was a large amount of cabins, RVs, campers that were just flipped over,” she told the Associated Press. “Everything was destroyed.”
That included homes and schools, according to Dillon.
In Kansas, a dust storm caused a crash involving 50 automobiles Friday. Kansas Highway Patrol said eight people died in that pile-up caused by high winds blowing in from Colorado.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency in Arkansas, where three deaths were confirmed. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp did the same as emergency management teams braced for “severe weather” coming in Saturday night and Sunday morning. Isolated tornadoes, hail and gusts reaching 70 mph were expected.