Tornadoes sweep through central US

A major storm system bore down on the US east coast yesterday, after producing tornadoes and devastating winds across several central states that killed at least 11 people.
Multiple tornadoes swept through Arkansas on Friday, including in the capital Little Rock, killing at least five people, the state’s governor said.
Dozens of others have been reported injured.
Daylight revealed extensive damage in impacted areas, with several homes torn apart, cars overturned, and trees ripped out of the ground.
First responders were sifting through debris yesterday for more possible victims after tornadoes sliced through the state, where the twisters sheared roofs and walls from many buildings, flipped over vehicles and downed trees and power lines in Little Rock and large areas east and northeast of the state capital, officials said.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has declared a state of emergency and activated the national guard to help with recovery efforts.
“Right now, we have five confirmed fatalities. We have a couple of others that have been reported, but we do not have confirmation from local law enforcement on the ground,” she said. “And, so, awaiting that. But right now, statewide, we have five confirmed fatalities.”
The city of Wynne, in the northeastern part of the state, was “cut in half by damage from east to west”, Mayor Jennifer Hobbs told CNN.
The National Weather Service (NWS) had also issued tornado warnings for several other states, from as far north as Iowa to the southern state of Mississippi, where a twister just last week killed 25 people and caused extensive property damage.
Calamity struck in the Illinois town of Belvidere, outside of Chicago, when severe weather caused the roof and part of the facade of the Apollo Theatre to collapse while a heavy-metal band played on stage inside.
TV footage showed emergency personnel carrying out injured concert-goers on stretchers, while video posted on social media showed rubble – some nearly waist-high – on the floor of the concert venue, and a gaping hole in the roof.
Belvidere Fire Chief Shawn Schadle reported one death and 28 injuries, including five people who were hospitalised with serious injuries.
Concertgoer Gabrielle Lewellyn told WTVO television that people took refuge in the basement when the roof came crashing down.
“They dragged someone out from the rubble. And I sat with him and I held his hand and I said everything is going to be OK. I didn’t really know much else what to do,” she said.
In the neighbouring state of Indiana, three people were killed by a storm in Sullivan County, several US media reported, citing local authorities.
Overnight tornadoes also claimed one life in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, and one in Madison County, Alabama, emergency officials reported yesterday.
At least 154,000 homes were without power yesterday, according to the US Poweroutage website.
As the system made its way to the US east coast yesterday, several mid-Atlantic states were under high wind warnings.
“Maximum wind gusts could approach 60mph (100kph) throughout much of the Appalachians, upper Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic today,” the NWS warned.
Tornadoes are common in the United States, especially in the centre and south of the country.
President Joe Biden visited the Mississippi city of Rolling Fork, one of the worst-hit areas in last week’s tornado, yesterday.
Biden has spoken with Huckabee Sanders and the mayors of Little Rock and Wynne, the White House said in a statement.
He also spoke with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell.
Biden reached out to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker but has not yet connected, the White House added.
Huckabee Sanders said that Biden and the Homeland Security secretary had offered a tremendous amount of support in phone calls yesterday.
“Anything that Arkansas needs, they have assured us that those resources will be here and on the ground,” she said at a news conference.