In the United States, at least eight people have been killed by violent storms and tornadoes that hit the states of Arkansas, Indiana and Illinois on Friday and are now moving toward the northeast of the country.

In Arkansas, a devastating tornado killed at least four people and injured about 30, he told the AFP the risk management service of this rural state in the American South.

The residents of Little Rock, the capital, woke up Saturday to bleak prospects of overturned cars, huge trees torn from the ground, broken telephone lines and destroyed houses.

Mayor Frank Scott Jr. of Little Rock said that “about 30 people were transported to our local hospitals”.

Lara Farrar, a journalist for a local business publication, told the AFP by phone that she was “totally shocked” by the devastation near her home in this city of 200,000.

“Some buildings had their roof blown off completely.”, he noted, sharing images of destroyed houses, with partially collapsed walls and fallen trees.

The town of Wynne, in the state’s northeast, has been “cut in half by damage from east to west,” complained the mayor, Jennifer Hobbs, in CNN.

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a general state of emergency the day before and mobilized the National Guard.

More than 154,000 homes were still without power on Saturdayaccording to the Poweroutage.us website.

damaging storms

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a tornado watch for the states of Tennessee, Illinois and Iowa.

Especially in the state of Illinois (central eastern United States), the severe storms also left aftermath and various damage.

In the night from Friday to Saturday, the disaster reached the town of Belviderewhen a powerful storm collapsed the roof and part of the facade of the Apollo Theater in the middle of a concert by a heavy metal band.

“It was reported that more than 20 ambulances had been called to the scene,” the chain reports. Fox 32.

Belvidere fire chief Shawn Schadle confirmed that one person was killed and 28 injured in the disaster, five with serious injuries.

In the neighboring state of Indiana, three confirmed dead after a storm swept through Sullivan Countydeclared authorities, quoted by local media.

The images broadcast by the television channel on Twitter WTHI they showed toppled telephone poles, collapsed houses and debris lying on the roads.

Tornadoes, a meteorological phenomenon as impressive as they are difficult to predict, They are common in the United States, especially in the center and south of the country.

A week ago, a tornado swept through Mississippi, killing 25 people and causing extensive property damage. President Joe Biden visited the site Friday.

December 2021, about 80 people were killed by tornadoes in Kentucky.