At least 29 people have been killed by the powerful tornadoes that have ripped through the Midwestern and southern United States, leaving thousands of homes flattened, tens of thousands of homes without power and even causing the roof of a concert hall to collapse.
The exact death toll is unknown and could rise in the coming days as emergency services in the hardest-hit states hit the streets to assess the damage and find survivors, sometimes even going door-to-door.
So far, local authorities have confirmed the deaths of twelve people in Tennessee, five in Arkansas, five in Indiana, four in Illinois, one in Alabama, one in Mississippi and one more in Delaware.
Biden promises help
Given the devastating impact of the tornadoes, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, announced this Sunday that the federal government will provide the states with the necessary assistance both to meet immediate needs and to help in the reconstruction work in the long-term.
“There is nothing we can do to fill the void that has been left in the hearts of so many families who lost loved ones this weekend, but we will be by their side every step of the way as they recover,” the president promised in a statement. .
Biden has already declared a state of emergency in Arkansas so that state authorities can access federal government resources.
In addition, the president spoke by phone this weekend with Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Little Rock Mayors Frank Scott, Jr. and Wynn Mayor Jennifer Hobbs, who represent two of Arkansas’ largest cities. impacted by the tornadoes, detailed the White House in a statement.
Biden also spoke by phone with Illinois Governor Jay Robert "J.B." Pritzker, and with the governor of Delaware, John Carney, to convey to them that his government will help them in whatever is necessary, added the White House.
a trail of destruction
Tornadoes, which struck the Midwestern and southern US on Friday night, have left a trail of destruction in their wake with trees and power poles torn from the ground, as well as destroyed homes that have become piles of rubble, according to the images shown by the country’s televisions.
Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas, is one of the most affected cities and at least 2,600 homes have been damaged, according to a statement from the City Council.
Another of the most affected towns in Arkansas is Wynne, with 8,000 inhabitants, and where strong winds destroyed the roof and windows of the institute and also damaged homes and businesses.
The administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Deanne Criswell, who is coordinating the federal response to the disaster, toured these two Arkansas municipalities this Sunday to assess the damage and promised that federal emergency services will help in the rescue and cleanup work.
“We know it takes all levels of government, including volunteers, to stop devastation like what we have seen today,” Criswell said in a Twitter message on Sunday.
“Absolute chaos” in an Illinois concert hall
In northern Illinois, tornadoes left a scene of "absolute chaos"in the words of Belvidere Police Chief Shane Woody, picks up the Chicago Tribune.
Specifically, the tornadoes caused the roof of a theater where 260 people were attending a heavy metal concert to partially collapse, leaving one dead and 48 injured, five of whom are in serious condition, according to the report. illinois governor.
The governor, who visited the rubble of the theater this Sunday, praised the quick response of the emergency services and the help that the neighbors gave each other.
“People who live nearby immediately came to pull people out of the rubble. And I think that’s especially impressive,” Pritzker said at a press conference that was broadcast on his official Facebook page.
The storm moves northeast
In the last hours, the storm moved towards the northeast of the United States. and hit with special force the surroundings of the town of Bridgeville (Delaware), where the Police found a lifeless person in a house on Saturday night especially damaged by the storm, reported the state police.
According to the National Weather Service, the storms could continue into the next week and hit the same Midwestern and southern US states hard again on Tuesday that have suffered in recent hours.
In addition, there is a risk of severe storms with lightning this Sunday in northeast Texas, including the city of Dallas, according to the National Weather Service Apart from the human and infrastructure damage, the tornadoes have made this Sunday without electricity to some 75,000 homes in Pennsylvania, another 45,000 in Ohio and more than 21,000 in Arkansas, some of the states most affected by strong winds, according to data from the PowerOutage.us website, which monitors this service.
