Thomas Mackintosh
BBC News
At least 34 people have died in the US – including 12 in Missouri alone – after deadly tornadoes tore through several south-eastern states, flipping cars and flattening homes.
In Kansas, at least eight people died after more than 55 vehicles were involved in a crash due to a dust storm.
More than 170,000 properties were without power across five states – including Michigan Missouri and Illinois – on Saturday evening, according to tracker PowerOutage.
Further severe weather is expected for the region, with tornado watches issued across eastern Louisiana, western Georgia, central Tennessee and the western Florida Panhandle.
Six deaths were reported in Mississippi by the Governor Tate Reeves, as several tornadoes spread across the state.
Flash flooding and flood warnings have also been issued in central Mississippi, eastern Louisiana and western Tennessee; as well as parts of Alabama and Arkansas, as severe weather continues to track across the south-east.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has said these flash floods could prove deadly.
Multiple tornado warnings were also issued across Alabama on Saturday night.
The NWS warned of “multiple intense to violent long-track tornadoes” in those areas, describing the situation as “particularly dangerous”.
The meteorological agency said: “If you live in these areas, get to the sturdiest structure you have access to and remain in place until the storms pass.”
Missouri State Trooper
Missouri State Trooper
Mike Kehoe, governor of Missouri, said the state had been “devastated by severe storms and tornadoes, leaving homes destroyed and lives lost”.
Missouri’s emergency management agency said initial reports indicated 19 tornadoes had struck 25 counties so far.
Arkansas has seen three deaths and 29 injuries – prompting Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders to declare a state of emergency.
Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, also declared a state of emergency, while Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt confirmed one person had been killed in the state.
A dust storm that caused three deaths in Texas on Friday night caused a pile-up of an estimated 38 cars.
“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen,” Sgt Cindy Barkley, of the state’s department of public safety, told reporters.
“We couldn’t tell that they were all together until the dust kind of settled.”
A further death has since been reported in Texas.
The destructive storms fuelled more than 100 wildfires in several central states and overturned multiple semi-trailer trucks, CBS reports.
In Oklahoma, one of those fires, known as the 840 Road Fire, has already burned 27,500 acres and remains 0% contained, according to the Oklahoma Forestry Service. The agency has issued a “red flag” warning for the state’s panhandle area, signalling a severe fire danger.
Tornadoes form when moist, warm air rises, mixing with cold air above to form thunderclouds.
Winds blowing from different directions cause the air to rotate, creating a vortex of air moving upwards.
Four states where tornado-related deaths have been confirmed in the past day lie within a path frequently hit by the weather phenomenon.
It has earned this stretch of the US the unofficial name Tornado Alley, because its geography is ideal for tornado formation.
In 2024, 54 people were killed in tornado-related incidents, according to Noaa. Nine people died in Texas. There were eight in Oklahoma, five in Arkansas and one in Missouri.
Peak tornado season in Tornado Alley is from May to June – but meteorologists caution that tornadoes can occur at any time of year.
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