Per NBC News: at least 36 people have died across Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Alabama and Mississippi as powerful storm systems swept through the Midwest and South, with Sunday marking the third day of the damaging storm system.
Millions of Americans across the country remain on alert for severe weather outbreaks as tornadoes and hail are expected across the Midwest and South, with the cross-country storm moving east. The storms have left hundreds of thousands of customers without power, injured dozens in Arkansas and caused fatalities linked to wildfires in Oklahoma.
The same storm system also led to wildfires and severe dust storms that left more than a dozen people dead in Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma. In addition, nearly 9 million people are under tornado watches, including in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. Another 82.8 million are covered by wind advisories, particularly in the middle of the country.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, more than 50 cars were involved in a pileup, which led to the deaths of at least 8 people, with multiple others injured and transported to medical care facilities.
The Dallas Morning News reported that dust storms also caused car accidents in the Texas Panhandle that killed at least 3 people, with the Texas A&M Forest Service saying it responded to 13 wildfires that burned 27,717 acres across the state.
The Oklahoma State Highway patrol said in a statement that it assisted the Enid Police Department with responding to a fatal crash tied to the weather and otherwise responded to 42 injury-causing crashes and 36 fires.
The Missouri State Emergency Management Agency posted on social media that there were “at least 12 confirmed confirmed weather-related fatalities,” with Gov. Mike Kehoe calling the devastation “heartbreaking.”
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a statement that his state has counted six deaths — one in Covington County, two in Jeff Davis County, and three in Walthall County. Three additional people are currently missing, and 29 people have been injured statewide. Reeves said that there was damage from the storm system in 21 of the state’s 82 counties while as many as 30,000 customers were initially without power.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said at least two people were killed in her state, one in Plantersville and one in Winterboro, with the state suffering damage in 52 of its 67 counties: “We pray for those lives we lost, as well as those who were injured, and we pray for our first responders, emergency management officials and linemen who are doing incredible work on the ground right now.”
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