OKLAHOMA CITY – Violent tornadoes ripped through parts of the U.S., wiping out schools and toppling semitractor-trailers in several states, part of a monster storm that has killed at least 32 people as more severe weather was expected late Saturday.
The number of fatalities increased after the Kansas Highway Patrol reported eight people died in a highway pileup caused by a dust storm in Sherman County on Friday. At least 50 vehicles were involved.
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In Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves announced that six people died in three counties and three more people were missing. There were 29 injuries across the state, he added in a nighttime post on the social platform X.
Missouri recorded more fatalities than any other state as scattered twisters overnight killed at least 12, authorities said. The deaths included a man whose home was ripped apart by a tornado.
“It was unrecognizable as a home. Just a debris field,” said Coroner Jim Akers of Butler County, describing the scene that confronted rescuers. “The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls.”
Dakota Henderson said he and others rescuing people trapped in their homes Friday night found five bodies scattered in the debris outside what remained of his aunt's house in hard-hit Wayne County, Missouri.
“It was a very rough deal last night,” he said the following day, surrounded by uprooted trees and splintered homes. “It’s really disturbing for what happened to the people, the casualties last night.”
Henderson said they rescued his aunt from a bedroom that was the only one left standing, taking her out through a window. They also carried out a man who had a broken arm and leg.
Officials in Arkansas said three people died in Independence County and 29 others were injured across eight counties.
“We have teams out surveying the damage from last night’s tornadoes and have first responders on the ground to assist,” Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on X.
She, Reeves and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared states of emergency. Kemp said he was doing so in anticipation of severe weather moving in later in the day.
On Friday, meanwhile, authorities said three people were killed in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo, in the Texas Panhandle.
Extreme weather encompasses a zone of 100 million people
The deaths came as the massive storm system unleashed winds that triggered deadly dust storms and fanned more than 100 wildfires.
Extreme weather conditions were forecast to affect an area that is home to more than 100 million people. Winds gusting up to 80 mph (130 kph) were predicted from the Canadian border to Texas, threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and wildfire risk in warmer, drier places to the south.
The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of far western Minnesota and far eastern South Dakota starting early Saturday. Snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 centimeters) were expected, with up to a foot (30 centimeters) possible.
Winds gusting to 60 mph (97 kph) were expected to cause whiteout conditions.
Evacuations were ordered in some Oklahoma communities as more than 130 fires were reported across the state, and nearly 300 homes were damaged or destroyed. Gov. Kevin Stitt said at a Saturday news conference that some 266 square miles (689 square kilometers) burned in the state.
The State Patrol said winds were so strong that they toppled several tractor-trailers.
Experts said it's not unusual to see such weather extremes in March.
Tornadoes hit amid storm outbreak
Significant tornadoes continued to hit Saturday, with the region at highest risk stretching from from eastern Louisiana and Mississippi through Alabama, western Georgia and the Florida panhandle, the Storm Prediction Center said.
Bailey Dillon, 24, and her fiance, Caleb Barnes, watched a massive twister from their front porch in Tylertown, Mississippi, away as it struck an area about half a mile (0.8 km) near Paradise Ranch RV Park.
They drove over afterward to see if anyone needed help and recorded video of snapped trees, leveled buildings and overturned vehicles.
“The amount of damage was catastrophic,” Dillon said. “It was a large amount of cabins, RVs, campers that were just flipped over — everything was destroyed.”
Paradise Ranch said via Facebook that all staff and guests were safe and accounted for, but Dillon said the damage extended beyond the RV park itself.
“Homes and everything were destroyed all around it,” she said. “Schools and buildings are just completely gone.”
Some imagery from the extreme weather went viral online.
Tad Peters and his father, Richard Peters, had pulled over to fuel up their pickup truck in Rolla, Missouri, on Friday night when they heard tornado sirens and saw other motorists fleeing the interstate to park.
“Whoa, is this coming? Oh, it’s here. It’s here,” Tad Peters can be heard saying on a video. “Look at all that debris. Ohhh. My God, we are in a torn ...”
His father then rolled up the window.
The two were headed to Indiana for a weightlifting competition but decided to head back home to Norman, Oklahoma, about six hours away, where they encountered wildfires.
Wildfires elsewhere in the Southern Plains threatened to spread rapidly amid warm, dry weather and strong winds in Texas, Kansas, Missouri and New Mexico.
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Walker reported from New York, and Reynolds from Louisville, Kentucky. Bruce Shipkowski in Toms River, New Jersey, Jeff Roberson in Wayne County, Missouri, Gene Johnson in Seattle and Janie Har in San Francisco contributed.
