By JEFF ROBERSON, REBECCA REYNOLDS and JULIE WALKER Associated Press
PIEDMONT, Mo. (AP) — Violent tornadoes and high winds decimated homes, wiped out schools, and toppled semitractor-trailers as a monster storm that also produced dust storms and icy conditions killed at least 33 people across the central and southern U.S.
The dynamic storm, earning an unusual “high risk” designation from weather forecasters, was blamed for deadly dust storms in the nation’s midsection, icy winter weather in northern parts of the country, and severe thunderstorms on Sunday, including on the West Coast.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced six people died in three counties and three more people were missing late Saturday as storms moved further east into Alabama, where damaged homes and impassable roads were reported.
Officials confirmed three deaths in Arkansas, where Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency. In Alabama, Dallas County Sheriff Michael L. Granthum said there was one storm-related fatality in that county.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also declared an emergency in anticipation of the storm’s shift eastward. Early Sunday morning, the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency used its social media accounts to repost a National Weather Service tornado watch for parts of southeast Georgia.
Dust storms spurred by the system’s early high winds claimed almost a dozen lives on Friday. Eight people died in a Kansas highway pileup involving at least 50 vehicles, according to the state highway patrol. Authorities said three people also were killed in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo, in the Texas Panhandle.
Extreme weather encompasses a zone of 100 million people
The extreme weather conditions were forecast to impact an area that is home to more than 100 million people, with winds threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and fanning the wildfire risk in warmer, drier places to the south.
Evacuations were ordered in some Oklahoma communities as more than 130 fires were reported across the state and nearly 300 homes were damaged or destroyed. Gov. Kevin Stitt said at a Saturday news conference that some 266 square miles (689 square kilometers) had burned, sharing that he lost a home of his own on a ranch northeast of Oklahoma City.
To the north, the National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of far western Minnesota and far eastern South Dakota starting early Saturday. Snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 centimeters) were expected, with up to a foot (30 centimeters) possible. Winds were expected to cause whiteout conditions.
Still, experts said it’s not unusual to see such weather extremes in March.
Tornadoes have been widespread
Significant tornadoes continued late Saturday, with the region at highest risk stretching from eastern Louisiana and Mississippi through Alabama, western Georgia and the Florida panhandle, the Storm Prediction Center said.
Some images from the extreme weather went viral online.
Tad Peters and his father, Richard Peters, had pulled over to fuel up their pickup truck in Rolla, Missouri, on Friday night when they heard tornado sirens and saw other motorists fleeing the interstate to park.
“Whoa, is this coming? Oh, it’s here. It’s here,” Tad Peters can be heard saying on a video. “Look at all that debris. Ohhh. My God, we are in a torn …”
His father then rolled up the window.
The two were headed to Indiana for a weightlifting competition but decided to return home to Norman, Oklahoma, about six hours away, where they then encountered wildfire.
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Walker reported from New York and Reynolds reported from Louisville, Kentucky. Bruce Shipkowski in Toms River, New Jersey, Jeff Roberson in Wayne County, Missouri, Gene Johnson in Seattle, and Janie Har in San Francisco contributed.
