At least three people were killed on Friday in a powerful tornado that swept through the southern US state of Arkansas, while three others were killed in the north under the onslaught of violent thunderstorms in Illinois and Indiana, according to the British Guardian newspaper. authorities.
Two people died in the small town of Wayne, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a news conference, which declared a state of emergency and deployed one hundred National Guardsmen.
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“Central Arkansas was severely damaged.”she tweeted.
In addition, Pulaski County – home to hard-hit Arkansas capital Little Rock – confirmed a third death to AFP.
Thirty people have been taken to hospitals. City, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott told reporters.
in full concert
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued tornado warnings for parts of neighboring states such as Tennessee, Illinois, Kentucky, and Iowa.
The tornado left in its wake a landscape of devastation with overturned cars, huge uprooted trees, broken telephone poles, and destroyed homes. It was, Lara Farrar, a reporter for a local business newspaper, told AFP by phone “completely shocked” upon discovery of damage near her home in Little Rock.
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“Some buildings had their roofs blown off completely.”She witnessed as she shared pictures of destroyed homes, partially demolished walls and trees on the ground.
“The neighborhood has been completely destroyed and destroyed.”And she added, referring to the great damage caused by a strip of about 500 meters in width, but with an extension ‘Very little damage’ outside.
In the north of the country, in the small town of Belvedere, west of Chicago in the state of Illinois, part of the roof and facade of the Apollo Theater collapsed during the passage of a violent storm.
Local media reported that a concert by the metal band was taking place.
Belvedere Fire Chief Sean Shadel reported one death and 28 injuries, including five who were hospitalized with serious injuries.
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The local press quoted more than twenty ambulances.
78,000 people
Television footage showed injured spectators being evacuated on stretchers, and pictures on social media showed waist-deep piles of debris and a large hole in the roof of the venue. In neighboring (North) Indiana, two people were killed in a storm in Sullivan County, WTHI-TV reported, citing Indiana police.
Pictures posted on Twitter by WTHI showed collapsed telephone poles, collapsed homes and rubble on the roads. A tornado hit Arkansas in the afternoon, sweeping through several neighborhoods in Little Rock. More than 78,000 people were deprived of electricity in this state, according to the American Poweroutage website.
Tornadoes, meteorological phenomena as impressive as they are difficult to predict, are common in the United States, especially in the center and south of the country. There is
A week ago, a tornado swept through Mississippi, killing 25 people and causing extensive property damage. President Joe Biden visited the site on Friday. In December 2021, about 80 people lost their lives after tornadoes hit Kentucky.
