Monster storm across US kills at least 26

Violent tornadoes ripped through parts of the US, wiping out schools and toppling semitractor-trailers in several states, part of a monster storm that has killed at least 26 people as more severe weather was expected late today.

The number of fatalities increased after the Kansas Highway Patrol reported eight people died in a highway pileup caused by a dust storm in Sherman County Friday. At least 50 vehicles were involved.

Missouri recorded more fatalities than any other state as it withstood scattered twisters overnight that killed at least 12 people, authorities said. The deaths included a man who was killed after a tornado ripped apart his home.

"It was unrecognisable as a home. Just a debris field," said Coroner Jim Akers of Butler County, describing the scene that confronted rescuers. "The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls."

Dakota Henderson said he and others rescuing people trapped in their homes yesterday found five dead bodies scattered in the debris outside what remained of his aunt's house in hard-hit Wayne County, Missouri.

"It was a very rough deal last night," he said today, surrounded by uprooted trees and splintered homes. "It’s really disturbing for what happened to the people, the casualties last night."

Henderson said they rescued his aunt from a bedroom that was the only room left standing in her house, taking her out through a window. They also carried out a man who had a broken arm and leg.

Officials in Arkansas said three people died in Independence County and 29 others were injured across eight counties as storms passed through the state.

"We have teams out surveying the damage from last night’s tornadoes and have first responders on the ground to assist," Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on X.

She and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp declared states of emergency. Kemp said he was making the declaration in anticipation of severe weather moving in later today.

Yesterday, meanwhile, authorities said three people were killed in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle.

Rescuers managed to save a woman in the home, Akers said.

Officials in Arkansas said this morning that three people died in Independence County and 29 others were injured across eight counties as storms passed through the state overnight.

"We have teams out surveying the damage from last night’s tornadoes and have first responders on the ground to assist," Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on X. "In the meantime, I just released US$250,000 (NZ$435,000) from our Disaster Recovery fund to provide resources for this operation for each of the impacted communities."

Today, meanwhile, authorities said three people were killed in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle.

The deaths came as a massive storm system moving across the country unleashed winds that triggered deadly dust storms and fanned more than 100 wildfires.

Extreme weather conditions were forecast to affect an area home to more than 100 million people. Winds gusting up to 130 km/h were predicted from the Canadian border to Texas, threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and wildfire risk in warmer, drier places to the south.

The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of far western Minnesota and far eastern South Dakota starting early Saturday. Snow accumulations of 7.6 to 15.2 centimetres were expected, with up to 30 centimetres possible.

Winds gusting to 97km/h were expected to cause whiteout conditions.

Evacuations were ordered in some Oklahoma communities as more than 130 fires were reported across the state. Nearly 300 homes were damaged or destroyed. Governor Kevin Stitt said today at a news conference that some 689 square kilometres had burned in his state.

The State Patrol said winds were so strong that they toppled several tractor-trailers.

Experts said it's not unusual to see such weather extremes in March.

The Storm Prediction Centre said fast-moving storms could spawn twisters and hail as large as baseballs on Saturday, but the greatest threat would come from winds near or exceeding hurricane force, with gusts of 160km/h possible.

Significant tornadoes continued to hit today. The regions at highest risk stretch from eastern Louisiana and Mississippi through Alabama, western Georgia and the Florida panhandle, the centre said.

Bailey Dillon, 24, and her fiance, Caleb Barnes, watched a massive tornado from their front porch in Tylertown, Mississippi, about 0.8km away as it struck an area near Paradise Ranch RV Park.

They drove over afterward to see if anyone needed help and recorded a video depicting snapped trees, levelled buildings and overturned vehicles.

"The amount of damage was catastrophic," Dillon said. "It was a large amount of cabins, RVs, campers that were just flipped over – everything was destroyed."

Paradise Ranch reported on Facebook that all its staff and guests were safe and accounted for, but Dillon said the damage extended beyond the ranch itself.

"Homes and everything were destroyed all around it," she said. "Schools and buildings are just completely gone."

Some of the imagery from the extreme weather has gone viral.

Tad Peters and his dad, Richard Peters, had pulled over to fuel up their pickup truck in Rolla, Missouri, Friday night when they heard tornado sirens and saw other motorists flee the interstate to park.

"Whoa, is this coming? Oh, it’s here. It’s here," Tad Peters can be heard saying on a video. "Look at all that debris. Ohhh. My God, we are in a torn ..."

His father then rolled up the truck window. The two were headed to Indiana for a weightlifting competition but decided to turn around and head back home to Norman, Oklahoma, about six hours away, where they encountered wildfires.

Wildfires elsewhere in the Southern Plains threatened to spread rapidly amid warm, dry weather and strong winds in Texas, Kansas, Missouri and New Mexico.

A blaze in Roberts County, Texas, northeast of Amarillo, quickly blew up from about 2 square kilometres to an estimated 85 square kilometres, the Texas A&M University Forest Service said on X. Crews stopped its advance by yesterday evening.

About 90 kilometres to the south, another fire grew to about 10 square kilometres before its advance was halted in the afternoon.

High winds also knocked out power to more than 200,000 homes and businesses in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, according the website poweroutage.us.