Shafaq News/ A massive storm system sweptacross the central and southern United States over the weekend, unleashingtornadoes, wildfires and severe winds that caused widespread damage and chaos, Americanmedia outlets reported.
On Friday, multiple tornadoes werereported in Missouri, including one that damaged a strip mall in Rolla. TheNational Weather Service (NWS) warned that the storm system posed a high riskof violent tornadoes and straight-line winds of up to 100 mph (160 kph) acrossthe Mississippi Valley and Deep South, with parts of Alabama, Mississippi, andTennessee at greatest risk.
The severe weather continued intoSaturday, with tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings issued for Alabama,Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, and Texas.
In the Texas Panhandle, a dust storm withnear-zero visibility led to a series of deadly crashes in Amarillo County,killing three people. One pileup involved 38 vehicles, according to Sgt. CindyBarkley of the Texas Department of Public Safety. “It’s the worst I’ve everseen,” Barkley told media outlets. “We couldn’t tell that they were alltogether until the dust kind of settled.”
Meanwhile, high winds and dry conditionssparked more than 130 wildfires in Oklahoma alone, prompting evacuations anddamaging property. Blazes were also reported in Texas, Kansas, Missouri, andNew Mexico. In Roberts County, Texas, a fire rapidly expanded to cover 32.8square miles (85 square kilometers) before crews managed to contain it.
In Oklahoma, firefighting efforts werehampered by low visibility from dust and smoke, preventing the use offirefighting aircraft. The state activated its emergency operations center asfires threatened communities and forced evacuations in Leedey and other areas.
As the storm system moved north, blizzardwarnings were issued for parts of Minnesota and South Dakota, where snowaccumulations of up to a foot (30 centimeters) and wind gusts of 60 mph (97kph) created whiteout conditions.
High winds knocked out power to more than216,000 homes and businesses across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri,according to poweroutage.us. Interstate 70 in western Kansas was temporarilyclosed due to blowing dust and limited visibility.
Meteorologists say such extreme weather inMarch is not uncommon, but the size and intensity of this system are unusual. “What’sunique about this one is its large size and intensity,” said Bill Bunting ofthe NWS Storm Prediction Center.
As the storm system moves east, the threatof heavy rain and flash flooding is expected to impact parts of the East Coaston Sunday.
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