Tornadoes strike US: 14 killed, more than 500 homes destroyed

By Rich McKay, for Reuters

Denise Woodard looks over her destroyed home at Harmony Hills trailer park in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, where many homes were damaged or destroyed in severe weather, on 15 March. Photo: AFP/ Getty - Brad Vest

At least 14 people have been killed after a series of tornadoes hit in Arkansas and Missouri in the night, raking a path of destruction that is still being assessed, police said.

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 US National Weather Service's (NWS) Prediction Centre.

"Today there is a high risk for more tornadoes across Alabama and Mississippi. The chance is 30 percent," he said. "That's pretty significant."

Anthony Hudson, left, helps his sister Kelsey Webb search for her belongings, at Harmony Hills trailer park, Missouri. Photo: AFP/ Getty - Brad Vest

Two of the tornado deaths occurred in southern Missouri in the Bakersfield area of Ozark County, about 434 kilometres (270 miles) southeast of Kansas City, and a third death was reported in Butler County, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and other officials said.

Eight others were killed in the storms, the Missouri Highway Patrol said on X, without giving details.

Three other deaths from the overnight storms occurred in Arkansas, the state's Department of Emergency Management reported on its website, adding that there were 29 injuries.

As the storms regain strength, the highest possible risk of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms is on Saturday night, forecasters said. By Saturday afternoon, parts of Mississippi and Alabama were issued a level 5 tornado alert, the highest level the NWS has.

Robbie Myers, the director of Butler County Emergency Management in Missouri, told reporters that more than 500 homes, along with a church and grocery store in the county were destroyed. A mobile home park had been "totally destroyed," he said.

The storms will move east throughout Saturday and could hit as far east as the Florida Panhandle and Atlanta by midnight, according to the NWS.

- Reuters