Tornadoes and fires feared as deadly storm sweeps across US

At least 16 people have been killed in a monster storm sweeping across much of the US.

Ten people were killed in Missouri after a tornado outbreak, the Missouri State Highway patrol said.

The agency said multiple people were also injured.

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

Sixteen counties across the state have reported damage to homes and businesses as well as downed power lines and trees, the Arkansas Department of Public Safety said.

Authorities said on Friday that three people were killed in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle.

The deaths on Saturday included a man who was killed after a tornado ripped apart his home.

Coroner Jim Akers of Butler County said of the scene that confronted rescuers: “It was unrecognisable as a home. Just a debris field.

“The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls.”

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

The deaths come 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 – including hurricane-force winds – are forecast to affect an area home to more than 100 million people.

Winds gusting up to 80mph were predicted from the Canadian border to Texas, threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and wildfire risk in warmer, drier areas to the south.

Evacuations were ordered in some Oklahoma communities as more than 130 fires were reported across the state. The State Patrol said winds were so strong that they toppled several tractor-trailers.

Experts say it is not unusual to see such weather extremes in March.

“What’s unique about this one is its large size and intensity,” said Bill Bunting of the US National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Centre in Norman, Oklahoma.

“And so what that is doing is producing really substantial impacts over a very large area.”

The Storm Prediction Centre said fast-moving storms could spawn twisters and hail as large as baseballs, but the greatest threat would come from straight-line winds near or exceeding hurricane force, with gusts of 100mph possible.

The centre said parts of Mississippi including Jackson and Hattiesburg and areas of Alabama including Birmingham and Tuscaloosa would be at a high risk.

Severe storms and tornadoes were also possible across eastern Louisiana, western Georgia, central Tennessee and the western Florida Panhandle.

Wildfires in the Southern Plains threatened to spread rapidly amid warm, dry weather and strong winds, and evacuations were ordered on Friday for some communities in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and New Mexico.

The US National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of far western Minnesota and far eastern South Dakota starting early on Saturday. Snow accumulations of 3-6in were expected, with up to a foot possible.

Winds gusting to 60mph were expected to cause whiteout conditions.