A violent tornado hit Little Rock, the capital of the state of Arkansas, in the southern United States, on Friday, causing significant damage and several injuries, according to authorities, who have not recorded any deaths at the moment.
“Significant damage has occurred in central Arkansas,” tweeted Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sander, who declared a state of emergency in the state and mobilized the National Guard.
“We know that 24 people have been hospitalized in Little Rock and we are not aware of any deaths at this time,” the city’s mayor, Frank Scott, also wrote on Twitter.
Lara Farrar, a journalist for a local business publication, told AFP by telephone that she was “totally shocked” by the destruction near her home in Little Rock, a city of 200,000.
“Some of the buildings had their roofs completely blown off,” pointed out, and shared images of destroyed houses, with walls partially torn down and trees down.
Governor Sanders also reported “significant damage” in the town of Wynne, east of Little Rock.
Videos shared on social media by local journalists show a large, swirling black mass tearing through the Little Rock sky Friday afternoon.
Around 23:50 GMT on Friday, some 90,000 people lost power in Arkansas, and 45,000 in the neighboring state of Iowa, according to the specialized site PowerOutage.us.
Tornadoes, a meteorological phenomenon as impressive as it is difficult to predict, are common in the United States, especially in the center and south of the country.
A week ago, a tornado ripped through Mississippi, killing 25 people and causing extensive property damage. President Joe Biden visited the site on Friday.
As of December 2021, about 80 people have died after tornadoes hit Kentucky.