At least 16 people have died amid an outbreak of severe weather across the South and Midwest that forecasters warn could include "violent" tornadoes, high winds, thunderstorms and flash flooding on Saturday.
The dangerous weather comes as a monstrous March storm moves from coast-to-coast. The storm system spun up a tornado in Southern California, dumped snow on the Sierra Nevada, caused dangerous road conditions in Texas and spawned reported tornadoes in the South and Midwest overnight.
The storm system is expected to push toward the East Coast into Sunday, bringing showers and thunderstorms from the lower Great Lakes region to the Northeast and Southeast, the weather service said. There is a slight risk of tornadoes and high winds in the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic states Sunday.
“It was unrecognizable as a home. Just a debris field,” Coroner Jim Akers of Butler County told the Associated Press about the home of a man who was killed. “The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls.”
Three people also died and 29 were injured in Arkansas in connection with a storm system that caused damage across 16 counties overnight, the Arkansas Department of Public Safety said.
The dangerous weather comes as a monstrous March storm moves from coast-to-coast. The storm system spun up a tornado in Southern California, dumped snow on the Sierra Nevada, caused dangerous road conditions in Texas and spawned reported tornadoes in the South and Midwest overnight.
The storm system is expected to push toward the East Coast into Sunday, bringing showers and thunderstorms from the lower Great Lakes region to the Northeast and Southeast, the weather service said. There is a slight risk of tornadoes and high winds in the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic states Sunday.
Tornado watches issued: See national weather map
Deaths toll from severe weather grows Saturday
There were 11 tornado- and storm-related deaths across four counties in Missouri, the state's highway patrol said Saturday morning. Two of those deaths and more injuries were caused by a suspected tornado that touched down in the Bakersfield area of southern Missouri, officials said. Photos posted to social media show damage to buildings and a vehicle. Elsewhere in the state, officials said trees and power lines were down and structures were damaged.
“It was unrecognizable as a home. Just a debris field,” Coroner Jim Akers of Butler County told the Associated Press about the home of a man who was killed. “The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls.”
Three people also died and 29 were injured in Arkansas in connection with a storm system that caused damage across 16 counties overnight, the Arkansas Department of Public Safety said.
