At least 36 people have been killed in extreme weather across six states.
Late on Sunday afternoon, nearly 350,000 consumers still lacked power in areas affected by strong winds and tornadoes. The storms first hit the South and Midwest, before travelling east through Pennsylvania, New York and other states.
Twenty-six tornadoes were reported as a low-pressure system sent powerful thunderstorms across large swathes of Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri.
Missouri has reported 12 deaths, the largest number of any single state. Destruction there is widespread, spanning 27 counties. Governor Mike Kehoe said there is still one person missing.
Robbie Myers, the director of emergency management in Missouri’s Butler County, said more than 500 homes, a church and a grocery store in the county were destroyed. A mobile home park had been “totally destroyed.
“Everything around it here is really bad,” another resident of Butler County told reporters.
“The trailer park up the street had fatalities. So, I mean, we don’t have nothing compared to anything like that. I still have a home. They don’t.”
Eight deaths were confirmed as a result of a car crash in Sherman County, Kansas, caused by a dust storm.
In a statement, President Trump said he was monitoring the situation. “36 innocent lives have been lost,” he said, “and many more devastated.”
The President also announced that the National Guard was being sent to Arkansas.