Seven of the deaths have been reported in McNairy County, in southwest Tennessee, according to the state’s emergency management agency, citing NBC News.
Given the widespread damage, it will take several days to assess damage in all of the affected areas, including Wayne, Lewis, Marshall, Rutherford, Cannon and Macon, the National Weather Service field office in Nashville said.
Additionally, five deaths were reported in the communities of Cross and Pulaski in Arkansas; Four more were reported from Boone and Crawford, Illinois; and three in Sullivan, Indiana.
Fatalities have also been reported in Pontotak, Mississippi; in Madison, Alabama; and another in Tipton County, Tennessee, according to a count by the news outlet.
The National Weather Service reported that a severe weather event in northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana caused “widespread wind damage with several tornadoes,” thunderstorms, and scattered hail in the area.
In the first of those states, in Boone County, a man was killed and 28 others injured when the roof of a concert hall collapsed Friday night in a tornado.
The storm system, which has battered parts of the Midwest and southern United States, threatened a wide swath of the country, home to about 85 million people.
Due to adverse weather conditions, more than 997,000 customers in 14 states in the Midwest remain without power, according to Poweroutage.us, which tracks outages.
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