Little Rock Tornado: ‘Severe’ Injuries Reported in Arkansas, Severe Weather in South, Midwest
More than 28 million people are under tornado watch, according to the US National Weather Service, with severe tornado outbreaks underway in the South and Midwest.
A confirmed “devastating” tornado is already moving through the Little Rock, Arkansas metro area, according to NWS.
tornado emergency The order was issued after a tornado and quarter-sized hailstones threatened to hit the Little Rock, Arkansas subway on Friday afternoon.
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. tweeted that 24 people in Little Rock were hospitalized, adding that “no deaths have been reported.”
ABC affiliate KATV reports that a local hospital is treating five critically ill patients.
One hospital told ABC News it was on standby for a potential “influx of patients,” but has yet to admit many patients.
According to Lia Sadowski, the damage was concentrated in West Little Rock, where “multiple structures”, both commercial and residential, were destroyed. repeated.
The city of Little Rock took to Twitter to reach out to residents. “Stay in their home” Allow emergency personnel to get to work.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the storm caused “significant damage” in central Arkansas.
“Arkansas people should continue to pay attention to the weather as the storm continues to blow,” she said. murmured.
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. Said He asked the governor for help from the National Guard for the tornado emergency.
The tornado emergency occurred Friday when a rare high-risk tornado warning was issued for parts of six states: Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. Including potentially violent long-track tornadoes.
Areas at risk of strong tornadoes include St. Louis. Davenport, Iowa. Peoria, Illinois. Paducah, Kentucky. Memphis, Tennessee. Jonesboro, Arkansas. Tupelo, Mississippi.
A powerful tornado could form Friday night across Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi.
A “confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado” formed near Earl, Arkansas, west of Memphis at approximately 5:13 p.m. local time and was moving east at 50 miles per hour, according to NWS. I was.
Wapelo County, Iowa, hit by a massive tornado
Heavy hail hits Ames, Iowa
Among the tornado-threatened areas is one that was hit by a deadly storm last weekend. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visited her one of these locations in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, on Friday.
“Jill and I are here to show our support.” “I know there is a lot of pain and moments like this are incredible. will.”
About 20 people died in the storm.
In addition to the tornado, Friday’s storm could bring strong winds and massive hail. The spread of this severe weather stretches from Lufkin, Texas to Milwaukee and east to Nashville, Tennessee to Cincinnati.
The storm system will move northeast on Saturday, potentially causing severe weather in Pennsylvania and upstate New York, and even upstate New Jersey. Destructive winds will pose the greatest threat to the Northeast.
The storm has a winter component, with blizzard warnings in effect for South Dakota and Minnesota, with snow depths of 0.5 feet or more and gusts of up to 45 mph. A whiteout condition is expected.
Winter storm warnings are spreading from Nebraska to Minneapolis to Wisconsin and Michigan, where more than a foot of snow could fall.
ABC News’ Gianna Cousin, Matt Foster and Robinson Perez contributed to this report.
https://abc7ny.com/tornado-emergency-little-rock-national-weather-service/13058642/ Little Rock Tornado: ‘Severe’ Injuries Reported in Arkansas, Severe Weather in South, Midwest