New warning

Storms and tornadoes rage in the USA: 33 dead already

Missy searches for photos in the debris field after a severe storm in Bridgeton, Missouri.(Bild: APA/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Tornadoes are wreaking havoc in the South and Midwest of the United States. They have killed at least 33 people, twelve of them in the state of Missouri alone. Dozens of people were injured.

The powerful whirlwinds destroyed houses and cars with their force, uprooted trees and also fanned forest fires. The National Weather Service has warned of further storms that are expected to reach the east coast today.

The US states of Alabama and Georgia are particularly at risk. In Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency and urged residents to prepare. Residents of high-risk areas should seek out buildings with underground shelters and avoid mobile homes. Millions of Americans are on alert.

Marcus Cole saves the belongings from his destroyed house. Amazingly, his wife's red roses remained intact.(Bild: APA/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

He hugs his terrified daughters tightly.(Bild: APA/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Pile-up involving 50 vehicles
Dust storms caused pile-ups involving dozens of vehicles. In a series of accidents in the state of Kansas, 50 vehicles crashed into each other, killing at least eight people. There were further fatalities in Arkansas (3), Mississippi (6), Texas (3) and Oklahoma (1). Hundreds of thousands of households lost power.

Tornadoes

• These small-scale air vortices occur when there are large temperature differences.

• They often occur together with thunderstorms.

• A trunk-like tube of cloud extends from the thundercloud down to ground level.

Hundreds of fires in Oklahoma
According to the Governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, it is likely to take months to clean up the enormous damage in her state. A police spokeswoman in Texas said: "We've had severe storms in the past, but not of this magnitude. It was horrible."

In Oklahoma alone, hundreds of fires reportedly broke out. This affected 170,000 hectares, an area twice the size of Hamburg.

More than 40 tornadoes
The storms began on Friday. More than 40 tornadoes were recorded in eight states - Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Illinois, Tennessee, Alabama and Indiana. For comparison: according to the German Weather Service, there are an average of around 45 tornadoes per year in Germany.