Storms Kill At Least 21 People in 4 US States
Thunderstorms swept across the southern plains of the United States and the Ozark Mountains, killing at least 21 people by Monday afternoon in 4 states.
The storms damaged hundreds of buildings, with meteorologists warning of even harsher weather conditions.
The known death toll from severe weather over the weekend includes at least 8 in Arkansas, 7 in Texas, 4 in Kentucky, and 2 in Oklahoma, according to emergency authorities in these states.
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania until Monday evening.
The warning covered over 30 million people in the northeast, as storms were expected to approach that part of the East Coast.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency in his state early Monday, while the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Atlanta area and other parts of Georgia, as well as several counties in western South Carolina, until at least Monday afternoon.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a press conference on Sunday that at least 7 people had died, including two children aged 2 and 5 from the same family.
Nearly 100 people were injured late Saturday when a powerful tornado struck areas in the northern part of the state near the Oklahoma border.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders said late Sunday that 8 people had died as a result of the storms in the state.
One Arkansas resident, who had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, died due to a lack of oxygen when the power went out.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans faced power outages on Monday due to the severe weather, according to a power outage tracking site, with Kentucky alone experiencing more than 160,000 outages.
