States across the U.S. South and Midwest are cleaning up on Saturday following a deadly spring storm that spawned hail, heavy wind and tornadoes, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people. At least 10 people were killed, the Associated Press reported.
Reports of damage are extensive, with cars tossed off roads, homes ripped from foundations and buildings badly damaged. The hardest hit areas from Friday’s storm system are in Arkansas, Tennessee, Iowa and Illinois, where a roof was ripped off the Apollo Theater in the city of Belvidere during a heavy-metal concert. At least one person at the show was killed, Chicago’s ABC-7 reported.
Belvidere Police Chief Shane Woody described the scene as “chaos, absolute chaos,” the AP reported.
The U.S. Storm Prediction Center said there have been 65 tornado reports. The tornadoes erupted from a broader weather system that deluged California with flooding rains earlier this week.
About 388,000 customers were without power across 10 states as of 8 a.m. ET, according to Poweroutage.us, with the bulk in Indiana, Minnesota and Arkansas.
More than 500 flights into and around the U.S. were canceled Saturday morning and nearly 2,000 were delayed, according to FlightAware. Many of the scrubbed flights are in Chicago and Atlanta, two major airports and travel hubs.
The powerful spring storm is tracking east, according to the National Weather Service, and the Eastern seaboard including New York City, could be hit with severe thunderstorms Saturday.
“This is not an April Fools’ joke!” New York City Emergency Management said on its Notify NYC website.
Southern Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina may also be in line for severe weather, the NWS said. These powerful thunderstorms can bring tornadoes, hail and straight-line winds, a destructive wind sometimes mistaken for a tornado.
