Status: 04/01/2023 03:17
A tornado wreaked havoc in southern Arkansas. There are reports of around 600 injuries, and tens of thousands of people were without power. The governor dispatched the National Guard.
A severe tornado hit the town of Little Rock, Arkansas. Images from local television stations showed uprooted trees, overturned vehicles and torn roofs. The local rescue service assumes at least 600 injuries, a local broadcaster reported.
The tornado was part of a severe weather system that stretched from the southern United States to the Great Lakes region in the north. The National Weather Service said there was an increased risk of tornadoes in this area.
70,000 people without electricity
“Significant damage” had occurred in central Arkansas, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders wrote a little later on Twitter. The local newspaper “Democrat-Gazette” reported, citing a hospital, that “several” injured people in critical condition were already being treated.
As the “New York Times” reported, the tornado hit near Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas, downed trees and damaged houses. More than 70,000 people were without power across the state, according to the website Poweroutage.us. Police and rescue workers are on duty to help the injured, wrote Governor Sanders.
The Republican urged residents to remain safe in the face of further storm warnings from the national weather service NWS. Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott wrote on Twitter of a “devastating” storm. Gov. Sanders wrote that she had dispatched the National Guard to support local responders.
Bidens visit destroyed site in Mississippi
A tornado killed at least 26 people in the states of Mississippi and Alabama just a week ago. On Friday, US President Joe Biden and his wife Jill visited the small town of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, which had been hit particularly hard by the tornado. During the visit, the Bidens got an idea of the destruction in the 2,000-inhabitant community and met, among other things, the city’s mayor and affected residents.
“You are not alone,” Biden said amid the rubble of destroyed homes and uprooted trees. “The American people will stand by you. They will help you get through here – and so will I,” Biden promised. The President announced Monday the opening of a local disaster center where affected residents could seek help.