Tornadoes killed at least 33 people across several states in the U.S. Midwest and Southeast on Saturday night, with at least 12 fatalities reported in Missouri, CNN reported.
More than 500 homes, a church and grocery store in Butler County were destroyed and a mobile home park had been “totally destroyed,” Robbie Myers, the director of emergency management for Missouri’s Butler County said.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves posted on X that six deaths had been reported in the state.
According to preliminary assessments, 29 people were injured statewide and 21 counties sustained storm damage, Reeves said.
In Arkansas, three deaths occurred, the state’s Department of Emergency Management said, adding that there were 32 injuries.
Twenty-six tornadoes were reported but not confirmed to have touched down late on Friday night and early on Saturday as a low-pressure system drove powerful thunderstorms across parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri, said David Roth, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center.
