The White House has announced that federal aid is now available to those affected by the tornadoes in Arkansas. This comes after a violent storm system swept across several states in the South and Midwest of the United States over the weekend, resulting in at least 29 deaths, with five of those being in Arkansas.
One resident of Wynne, a town that was severely impacted by the tornado, shared her harrowing experience of the storm, stating that she and her family thought they were going to die and even said their goodbyes to each other. The family took shelter in their bathroom with their dogs as the tornado hit, and although their home was seriously damaged, they were fortunately unharmed. In the small community of Wynne, four people lost their lives due to the tornado.
Wynne High School heavily damaged, early release decision praised by the teacher.
One of the teachers at Wynne High School, Lisa Worden, has said that the decision to release pupils early was critical. The school suffered significant damage, with some buildings torn apart by the recent tornado. “We got out at 1:30, which was such a God blessing from our superintendent, because otherwise kids would have been on buses and teachers would have still been here. And so that would have been even more devastating,” she told Reuters.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders spoke to President Biden on Friday about the widespread devastation caused by the recent storm system, which impacted several states in the South and Midwest. Fatalities have been reported in Alabama, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Tennessee has had the highest number of deaths, with twelve reported.
One dead, 28 injured as theatre roof collapses during heavy metal gig in Illinois due to storms that later caused power outages across Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The US PowerOutage website reported the worst impacts in those states, but there were also severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of Texas on Sunday, with the possibility of tornadoes and large hail.
The weather system was forecast to affect several other states too. The extreme weather follows last week’s rare, long-track twister in Mississippi that killed 26 people, damaged around 2,000 homes, and lasted for over an hour. President Biden visited the state on Friday to offer his condolences.
