Communities emerge to major destruction after large tornadoes tear through the South and Midwest

(CNN) Ravaged communities in the South and Midwest were picking up debris and digging through rubble after a deadly storm and tornado hit a neighborhood Sunday, killing at least 22 people.

The tornado outbreak that hit the country on Friday has resulted in more than 50 tornado reports in at least seven states, including Arkansas and Tennessee, where multiple deaths have been reported. They ripped roofs off buildings, tore down trees, and sent cars flying.

More than 200 people were inside the Apollo Theater in Belvidere, Illinois, when the roof collapsed on Friday, killing one person and injuring dozens.

And in Wynn, Arkansas, the storm was so strong that it completely ripped the grass off a high school football field.

At least seven people were killed Saturday night after two back-to-back storms hit McNairy County, Tennessee, as authorities searched a collapsed building.

McNairy County Sheriff Guy Buck told CNN that “there were deaths from the west side of the county to the east side,” adding that a powerful storm had hit the entire county.

Deaths were reported in multiple states, including four deaths in Illinois. Three people died in Sullivan, Indiana. Four are in Wynn, Arkansas.

Governors of Indiana, Iowa, Illinois and Arkansas have all issued state of emergency or disaster declarations within their states to release emergency assistance to affected counties.

Little Rock, Arkansas, was hit hard, but no fatalities were reported as of Saturday afternoon. Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said he is now focused on recovery and rebuilding.

“It’s literally unbelievable to see flying vehicles and buildings collapsing,” the mayor said. “A lot of people weren’t home. If they were, it would have been a massacre,” Scott Jr. told CNN.

of Reported by the National Weather Service The EF-3 tornado raged through Pulaski and Lonoke counties in Arkansas, with an estimated maximum wind speed of 165 mph. A powerful tornado killed one person at North Little Rock and four at Wynn, about 100 miles east of him.

Nearly 2,600 structures were affected in Little Rock and about 50 people were taken to hospital, the mayor said.

In addition to leaving a trail of destruction in multiple states, the storm also cut power to affected communities, including more than 30,000 customers affected by the blackout in Arkansas, according to poweroutage.us. I was.

Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses were without power, including 134,000 in Pennsylvania and nearly 86,000 in Ohio, according to poweroutage.us.

The severe weather in the South and Midwest came after a tornado-producing storm hit the Southeast last week, killing at least 26 people and destroying much of Rolling Fork, Mississippi.

Small towns ‘basically cut in half’

“The town was basically halved with damage from east to west,” said Mayor Jennifer Hobbs, who watched from a distance as the Twister approached after the storm passed through Wynn, Arkansas.

“I don’t know how to put it into words. It was devastating. Seeing it in person is different than seeing it affect another community on TV,” Hobbes said. .

Some homes in Wynn, home to about 8,000 inhabitants, were completely crushed into piles of trees, while others had their roofs ripped off, exposing storm-strewn interiors. , and drone footage provided to the CNN show.

“We have a lot of families who are completely devastated. They have no homes at all and their belongings have not survived,” the mayor added.

Storm early warning saved lives, sheriff says

Janice Pieterik and her husband, Donald Lepchik, were in an RV and rushed to their daughter’s house across the garden in Hohenwald, Tennessee, when they received warnings of an approaching tornado, according to a CNN affiliate. WTVF reported that a tornado struck a few minutes later.

When a storm roared outside, the family hurriedly gathered in the bathroom.

“We put her and the kids in the bathtub because that’s supposed to be the safest place. And all the doors were blown out, so we all crouched down.” Double doors in the front, double doors in the back, all the glass.The windows just blew out in one fell swoop,” Peterrick said.

Pieterik said the whole house shook. “You can literally feel it moving. Lift it. That’s when we thought we were going too,” she said.

In nearby McNairy County, where multiple deaths have been reported, the death toll could have been much higher had residents not heeded early warnings and sought suitable shelter, Buck Sheriff said. said the officer.

“If it weren’t for them, seeing the devastation we went through, our death toll would have been in the hundreds,” said Buck. No,” he added.

CNN’s Samantha Beach, Raja Razek, Andy Rose and Rebecca Reese contributed to this report.