At least 43 people died over the Christmas holiday weekend in a series of storms that hit the South, Southwest and Midwest United States. Missouri and New Mexico have declared a state of emergency. Tornadoes were reported in 10 states, including Michigan, which recorded its first-ever tornado in December. The deadliest storms were in Texas, where at least 11 people died when tornadoes hit areas near Dallas. Now a historic snowstorm is heading toward Dallas after causing blizzard-like conditions in New Mexico, Oklahoma and western Texas. Another 10 people died in tornadoes in Mississippi, six more in Tennessee. Flash floods also killed at least 13 people in Missouri, Illinois and Arkansas, where as much as nine inches of rain fell on some areas. A Birmingham, Alabama, resident described the destruction after a tornado touched down.
Loretta Scott: “I feel grateful. I’m just thankful to be alive. I’m just thankful to be alive. It was so horrible. It was like clawing at the roof, and the windows just broke through, and the rain was so thick, and it was just like—it was a nightmare. And when the people said take cover, if I had not moved one inch back into taking cover, the whole glass would have been on my bed where I was laying. It blew out the windows.”