34 dead, Over 40 Tornadoes 200,000 Are Without Power Across Five States: State Of Emergency

AccuWeather

Overall, at least 34 deaths have been recorded from the cross-country storm system. At least 6 dead in tornadoes in Mississippi: Governor

At least six people have died in Mississippi in the outbreak of tornadoes Saturday, the governor said.

Another three people are missing and 29 people are injured, Gov. Tate Reeves said in a social media post Saturday night.

“Please pray for those who lost their life, those who are missing and those leading the search efforts, those who are healing, and their families,” Reeves said in the post.

Millions of Americans across the country are on alert for a severe weather outbreak as violent, long-track tornadoes with damaging winds of up to 80 mph and large hail are expected across the Midwest and South with the cross-country storm moving east.

The same storm system delivered raging winds to the Plains states earlier, leading to wildfires and severe dust storms that left more than a dozen people dead in Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma.

Over the past 24 hours, more than 40 reported tornadoes have swept across eight states in the Midwest and South — and the dangerous severe weather threat continues.

The eight states with reported tornadoes in the past day are Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana and Tennessee.

Overall, there have been more than 500 reports of severe weather since late Friday, from the Midwest into the South, including not only tornadoes, but damaging wind gusts and large hail.

Across the South, Tornado watches remain in effect in portions of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and Georgia as a line of powerful storms continues to sweep east.

From eastern Tennessee, including Knoxville, into northwestern Georgia, a tornado watch remains in effect until 1 a.m. ET. Additional watches could be posted in the coming hours for points east, across George and into the Florida Panhandle.

There is also the threat of additional severe thunderstorms bringing potentially damaging wind gusts and large hail. Any stronger, slow-moving thunderstorms could also bring torrential rain and frequent lightning.

Dangerous flash flooding is also a concern. Flash flood warnings are in effect from southern Mississippi through central Tennessee.