Jakarta –
Tornado hit the east coast of the United States (US). As a result dozens of people died from hurricanes and tornadoes related to that incident.
Summarized Sunday (2/4/2023), tornado and the hurricane devastated several central US states. Initially, the death toll was reported as 5 people, now it continues to increase to 24 people due to hurricanes and tornadoes related to the incident.
Reported by AFP, Sunday (2/4), tornadoes swept through Arkansas on Friday (31/3), including in the capital city of Little Rock that killed at least five people. The state governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, reported dozens of other people were injured in the incident.
Damage was extensive in the affected areas, with several houses damaged, cars overturned and trees uprooted. Governor Sarah has declared a state of emergency and activated the national guard to assist recovery efforts.
The city of Wynne, in the north-eastern part of the state, was “split in two by destruction from east to west,” said Mayor Jennifer Hobbs.
The national weather service has also issued a warning tornado for several other states, from as far north as Iowa to the southern state of Mississippi, where last week’s tornado killed 25 people and caused extensive property damage.
Disaster struck the Illinois town of Belvidere, outside Chicago, when bad weather caused the roof and part of the façade of the Apollo Theater to collapse. Belvidere Fire Chief Shawn Schadle reported one death and 28 injuries, including five people who were hospitalized with serious injuries.
In the neighboring state of Indiana, three people died as a result of the storm in Sullivan County, several US media reported, citing local authorities.
Local emergency officials reported overnight tornadoes also claimed one life in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, and one in Madison County, Alabama. According to the US Poweroutage website, at least 154,000 homes were without power on Saturday.
As the system headed down the US east coast Saturday, several mid-Atlantic states were under a high wind warning.
“Maximum wind gusts could approach 60 miles (100 kilometers) per hour over much of the Appalachian, upper Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic today,” the National Weather System warned.
Tornadoes are common in the United States, especially in the central and southern parts of the country. President Joe Biden last Friday visited the town of Rolling Fork in Mississippi, one of the areas worst hit by tornadoes last week.
In December 2021, approximately 80 people were killed by tornadoes in Kentucky.
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(yld/eva)
