Tornadoes, storms strike Southern states, killing at least 30 people

JACKSON, Miss. — At least 22 people are dead after a wave of severe storms struck Southern states on Easter Sunday and early Monday, knocking out power to tens of thousands of customers and damaging hundreds of homes and structures, authorities said.

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Here are the latest updates:

Update 6:35 p.m. EDT April 13: The Associated Press in reporting over 30 people have been killed after severe storms and tornados pounded the Deep South Sunday.

The storms spread across the eastern United States leaving more than 1 million homes and businesses without power amid floods and mudslides.

Update 3:45 p.m. EDT April 13: Officials in South Carolina told The Associated Press that at least three have been found dead in the state after storms swept through the region Sunday and Monday.

The reports brought the death toll from the Easter storm to at least 22.

Update 12:55 p.m. EDT April 13: Sheriff’s Capt. Mike Burn of the Davidson County, North Carolina, Sheriff’s Office told The Associated Press that a person has died in the state due to severe weather that swept through the South on Sunday and Monday.

The person, who was not identified, was killed by a falling tree as high winds blew through the county.

Davidson County is about 60 miles northeast of Charlotte.

Update 9:25 a.m. EDT April 13: At least six people are dead in Georgia after storms, including several tornadoes, caused severe damage in parts of the state.

WSB-TV reported a 34-year-old man died when a large tree crashed into a home in Bartow County. The fire chief told the news station that the man, who was not identified, was asleep at the time of the incident.

Two other people who were in the home at the time were injured, according to WSB-TV.

The death brought the death toll from Sunday and Monday’s storms up to at least 19 across the South.

Update 7:50 a.m. EDT April 13: Mississippi officials are now reporting at least 11 storm-related deaths in the state, according to The Associated Press. Another person was killed in White Hall, Arkansas, and six more were killed in Georgia. Overall, at least 18 people in the Deep South have died in the storms.

Update 5:37 a.m. EDT April 13: Atlanta’s WSB-TV is reporting that five people were killed and multiple people were injured in Murray County, Georgia, while one person was killed in Bartow County, Georgia. At least seven people were killed Sunday in Mississippi, bring the total number of storm-related deaths to 13.

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Storm damage Rolanda Robinson calls family and friends from her brother's damaged home in Monroe, La. after a tornado ripped through the town on Sunday, April 12, 2020. (Nicolas Galindo/The News-Star via AP)

Original report: According to the Clarion Ledger, the storm system, which prompted more than 25 reports of tornadoes throughout the region, killed seven people in Mississippi: three in Jefferson Davis County, two in Lawrence County, one in Walthall County and one in Soso. The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office identified two of the victims as Deputy Robert Ainsworth and his wife, Paula.

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In Louisiana, as many as 300 homes received damage in or near Monroe, as well as dozens in Webster and DeSoto parishes, The Associated Press reported.

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Late Sunday, power was out for at least 250,000 customers in Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, CNN reported. As of 3:30 a.m. EDT Monday, 140,000 outages were reported in Georgia, 36,000 in Tennessee and 55,000 in North Carolina, according to PowerOutage.us, a website that tracks power outages.

The deadly storms came as residents in many parts of the country were sheltering in place amid the coronavirus pandemic.

– The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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