drama in the United States. At least three people lost their lives on Friday after a powerful tornado swept through the state of Arkansas (southern United States).
In this southern state, two people died in the small town of Wynne, said Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders at a press conference, who declared a state of emergency and deployed a hundred national guards. "Central Arkansas sustained major damage," she tweeted.
Additionally, Pulaski County - home to Arkansas' hard-hit capital, Little Rock - confirmed to Agence France-Presse a third death. "About 30 people have been transported to hospitals" in the city, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott told reporters.
Video just sent to me. This is Little Rock, AR right now. Pray for central Arkansas. pic.twitter.com/b5V5ArzuCH
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued tornado warnings for parts of neighboring states like Tennessee, Illinois and Iowa. The tornado left in its wake a spectacle of desolation with overturned cars, huge uprooted trees, broken telephone poles and gutted houses.
Lara Farrar, a reporter for a local business publication, told Agence France-Presse over the phone that she was "totally shocked" upon discovering the damage near her home in Little Rock. “The roof of some buildings was completely blown off,” she testified, sharing images of houses destroyed, walls partially ripped off, trees on the ground.
"The neighborhood was just completely flattened and destroyed," she added, citing extensive destruction in a strip about 500 meters wide but with "very little damage" outside.
The Arkansas tornado hit in the afternoon, sweeping through several neighborhoods in Little Rock. More than 78,000 people have been without electricity in this state, according to the American site Poweroutage. The governor's services were unable to provide Agence France-Presse with an immediate report, but a hospital told a local newspaper that it had received "several" people in serious condition.
Tornadoes, meteorological phenomena as impressive as they are difficult to predict, are common in the United States, especially in the center and south of the country.
A week ago, a tornado swept through Mississippi, killing 25 people and causing extensive property damage. President Joe Biden visited the site on Friday. In December 2021, approximately 80 people lost their lives after tornadoes hit Kentucky.
