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AT least 42 people have been killed in intense storms barreling through several states – and more severe weather is on the way.
Hundreds of homes and businesses have been destroyed after tornadoes, wildfires, and dust storms swept through the South and Midwest.
Residents across the US woke up to devastating damage on Monday after over 970 severe storms brought three days of sweeping havoc, according to ABC News.
The National Guard has been deployed after dozens of storms brought tornadoes to Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and Mississippi over the weekend.
A “high risk” alert was issued by the NOAA Storm Prediction Center ahead of the fierce tornadoes.
The alert is considered an unusual move for the weather agency.
“It’s not that uncommon to get impacts across that many states, but this one was even on the stronger side of what we would typically see,” National Weather Service meteorologist Marc Chenard said, according to the Associated Press.
Missouri saw the highest death toll as 12 people were killed in the extreme weather, according to state emergency officials.
Dakota Henderson of Wayne County, Missouri, said he and other good samaritans helped to rescue people trapped in their homes Friday night after the state was hit with multiple tornadoes.
He said that they found five bodies scattered outside the ruins of his aunt’s home.
“It’s really disturbing for what happened to the people, the casualties last night,” he told the Associated Press.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said six people were dead and over 200 more displaced from the storms in his state.
“It was a bad dream come true,” said Steve Romero of Tylertown, Mississippi — about an hour and a half drive south of Jackson — after a tornado destroyed his family’s home on Saturday.
Three more deaths have been confirmed by officials in Arkansas. Dozens more in the state have been wounded.
High winds have wreaked havoc across the country as gusts knock down power lines, rip up houses, and push down trees.
Two boys, aged 11 and 13, were killed when the extreme weather caused a tree to fall on a trailer in Brevard, North Carolina, officials said on Sunday.
What States Were Hit By Storms?
Several states were hit by severe weather over the weekend.
Tornadoes ripped through Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas and Mississippi.
Texas was hit with wildfires and dust storms.
There were also wildfires in Oklahoma and dust storms in Kansas.
The storms led wildfires to break out in several states over the weekend, including Oklahoma.
Oklahoma officials confirmed four people were killed in the state due to fires or high winds over the weekend.
More than 130 fires were reported in 44 counties across the state, officials said on Friday.
A father was killed and his son was severely burned while they tried to escape the flames on Friday night, according to NBC affiliate KFOR-TV.
Over 100 people in Oklahoma were injured.
In Kansas, eight people were killed in an over 50-vehicle pileup during a dust storm, according to authorities.
Three more people died in car accidents in a Texas dust storm, authorities said.
MORE BAD WEATHER
Americans are bracing for more severe weather that could bring additional tornadoes and severe wind.
On Monday night, a storm system is moving east from the Lower Great Lakes to the Appalachian Mountains.
It is expected to bring thunderstorms and severe weather with tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm system will leave overnight Monday into Tuesday.
President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Sunday, “Please join Melania and me in praying for everyone impacted by these terrible storms!”
Misty Drope of Paragould, Arkansas—nearly a three-hour drive northeast of Little Rock—recalled the tragic experience of losing her home to a tornado over the weekend.
“There’s a silence that happens before a strong storm hits you,” she told Good Morning America on Monday.
Drope continued: “And I said, out loud, ‘Oh no, this is not good.'”
