Severe weather moves east after tornadoes, winds and wildfires killed at least 39 people

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Residents are surveying damage from unusually vicious weather in multiple U.S. states where violent twisters, blinding dust storms and fast-moving wildfires decimated entire neighborhoods. As of Sunday afternoon, at least 37 people had been killed as a sprawling storm barreled across the nation’s midsection toward the East Coast.

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Here’s the latest for Sunday March 16th: Fire in North Macedonia Nightclub Kills 59, Injures 155; Severe weather kills 35 across the South-Central U.S.; Trump sends immigrants to El Salvador despite court ruling; Jerusalem held annual Purim parade.

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Residents pounded by unusually vicious weather across parts of the U.S. surveyed damage Sunday from violent tornadoes that decimated homes and other structures (AP Video: Sharon Johnson)

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Family friend Trey Bridges, 16, climbs a mountain of tornado debris to help the Blansett family recover items not destroyed by Saturday’s tornado, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Tylertown, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

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Steve Romero, comforts his fiancee, Hailey Hart, right, Sunday, March 16, 2024, after recalling how the couple and their three dogs rode out an apparent tornado in their small automobile, Saturday afternoon, in Tylertown, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

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Tommy May, tosses a broken mirror from a tornado destroyed home of relatives, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Tylertown, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

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A stump smolders as a remnant of the Crabapple Fire over the weekend in Gillespie County, Texas, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Robin Jerstad/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

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Supplies are set up in front of Gillespie County’s St. Paul’s Lutheran Cave Creek Church for first responders of the Crabapple Fire, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Fredericksburg, Texas. (Robin Jerstad/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

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Donna Blansett, holds her dog LuLu, and recalls how she and husband Bobby Blansett, managed to escape Saturday from their tornado destroyed mobile home after a series of storms passed Tylertown, Miss., on Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

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A cat cries out while sitting before a destroyed cabin from a tornado at Paradise Ranch RV Resort in Tylertown, Miss., Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

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Hailey Hart, 21, right, hugs a friend, Sage Falgoust, 16, after recalling how she, her fiancee and their dogs rode out Saturday’s tornado in their 1994 Toyota automobile, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Tylertown, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

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Cody McCoy of Biloxi, Miss., recalls the escape he and his family undertook, when Saturday’s tornado flipped their bunkhouse camper in Tylertown, Miss., on Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

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A toy panda bear lies amid the rubble of a mobile home that was destroyed from tornado in Tylertown, Miss., on Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

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Patricia Blansett inspects a family portrait print, one of the few items that family and friends recovered intact, Sunday, March 16, 2025 from her relative’s mobile home that was destroyed when a series of storms passed Tylertown, Miss., on Saturday. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

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The antique teapot clock of Donna Blansett, is one of the few items that family and friends recovered intact from their mobile home that was destroyed when a series of storms passed Tylertown, Miss., Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

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Friends and family members search for belongings in the damage after a tornado passed through the area, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Plantersville, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

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Friends and family members take a break as they search for belongings in the damage after a tornado passed through the area, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Plantersville, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

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Friends and family carry off a safe from the damaged building after a tornado passed through the area, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Plantersville, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

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Friends and family members remove trees from a house after a tornado passed through the area Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Plantersville, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

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Tony Robertson drives a damaged pickup truck out of the way after a tornado passed through the area Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Plantersville, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

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Friends and family members search for belongings in the damage after a tornado passed through the area, Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Plantersville, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A dynamic storm that prompted foreboding predictions of dangerous weekend weather spawned tornadoes, dust storms and wildfires that killed at least 39 people and destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses.

The weakening but still volatile weather system was moving Monday into the U.S. Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, bringing thunderstorms, hail, damaging winds and the potential for more tornadoes.

Here’s what to know about the unusually erratic and damaging weather.

Monday forecast

Forecasters warned of dangerous winds from Florida all the way north to New Jersey, while heavy rain was likely across New York and New England.

A tornado watch was in effect until early Monday for a large swath of North Carolina and Virginia, with gusts potentially reaching 70 mph and possible hail the size of ping pong balls, according to the National Weather Service office in Blacksburg, Virginia.

The massive storm that began Friday earned an unusual “high risk” designation from meteorologists. Still, experts said it’s not unusual to see such weather extremes in March.

Multiple tornadoes in several states

In Tylertown, Mississippi, tornadoes ripped tall trees in half and wiped out entire neighborhoods. Six people were killed and more than 200 were displaced, Gov. Tate Reeves said.

Hailey Hart and her fiancé Steve Romero hunkered down with their three huskies inside their 1994 Toyota Celica as a twister ripped apart their home Saturday. Romero said he prayed out loud and hugged Hart as the car rolled onto its side, windows shattering, before it landed on its wheels again.

“It was a bad dream come true,” Romero said. The couple escaped with only scratches.

Wayne County, Missouri, resident Dakota Henderson said he and others rescuing trapped neighbors found five bodies scattered in rubble outside what remained of his aunt’s house. Scattered twisters killed at least a dozen people in the state Friday, authorities said.

Coroner Jim Akers of Butler County, Missouri, described the home where one man was killed as “just a debris field.”

“The floor was upside down,” he said. “We were walking on walls.”

Wildfires and dust storms also proved deadly

Wind-driven wildfires caused extensive damage in Texas and Oklahoma and officials warned that parts of both states would again face an increased risk of fire danger in the coming week.

More than 130 fires were reported across Oklahoma and nearly 400 homes were damaged or destroyed, Gov. Kevin Stitt said.

“Nobody has enough resources to fight fires when the wind is blowing 70 mph,” said Terry Essary, the fire chief of Stillwater, Oklahoma. “It’s an insurmountable task.”

Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management spokesperson Keli Cain said Sunday that two people were killed as a result of the wildfires and weather.

Meanwhile, dust storms spurred by high winds claimed almost a dozen lives on Friday. Eight people died in a Kansas highway pileup involving at least 50 vehicles, according to the state highway patrol. Authorities said three people also were killed in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo, in the Texas Panhandle.

Refuge and recovery efforts

President Donald Trump said the White House was monitoring the storms and would assist state and local officials to help in the recovery. He said National Guard troops were deployed to Arkansas, where officials confirmed three deaths.

“Please join Melania and me in praying for everyone impacted by these terrible storms!” Trump posted on his social media network on Sunday.

At least three people, including an 82-year-old woman, were killed in central Alabama when multiple tornadoes swept across the state.

In Troy, Alabama, parks officials said the recreation center where many residents had taken refuge had to be closed due to damage from overnight storms. No one was injured.

“We are thankful the Lord provided protection over our community, and over 200 guests at the Recreation Center storm shelter on Saturday night,” the parks department said in a statement.