Portions of eastern US under watch for dangerous winds and tornadoes as storm moves out on Sunday<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Portions of Pennsylvania<\/a>, New York<\/a>, and mid-Atlantic and south-east states were still under a National Weather Service watch for damaging wind and tornadoes, as the death toll from weekend storms rose to 36 people across six states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a White House statement, Donald Trump<\/a> said he was monitoring the tornadoes and storms, adding that \u201c36 innocent lives have been lost, and many more devastated\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump announced that the national guard had been deployed to Arkansas<\/a> and pledged help to state and local officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The storms that hit the south and the midwest headed east on Sunday. More than 340,000 consumers had no power in the affected areas as of late afternoon on Sunday, according to the website PowerOutage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Missouri reported the largest number of deaths, 12 fatalities spanning five counties, the state\u2019s highway patrol posted on social media. Missouri\u2019s governor, Mike Kehoe, said there was still one person missing in the state, which saw widespread destruction across 27 counties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Robbie Myers, director of emergency management in Missouri\u2019s Butler county, told reporters that more than 500 homes, a church and a grocery store in the county were destroyed. A mobile home park had been \u201ctotally destroyed\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEverything around it here is really bad,\u201d Missouri resident Rick Brittingham told Reuters from Butler county. \u201cThe trailer park up the street had fatalities. So, I mean, we don\u2019t have nothing compared to anything like that. I still have a home. They don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mississippi\u2019s governor, Tate Reeves, posted on social media that six deaths had been reported in the state \u2013 one in Covington county, two in Jefferson Davis county and three in Walthall county.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to preliminary assessments, 29 people were injured statewide and 21 counties sustained storm damage, Reeves said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hailey Hart and her fiance, Steve Romero, hunkered down with their three huskies inside their 1994 Toyota Celica as a tornado ripped apart their home on Saturday in Tylertown, Mississippi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Romero said he prayed out loud and hugged Hart as the car rolled on to its side, windows shattering, before it landed on its wheels again. After the twister passed, they could hear people nearby screaming for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was a bad dream come true,\u201d Romero said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next door, Hart\u2019s grandparents crawled out from the rubble of their destroyed house after they sought shelter in a bathroom as falling trees collapsed the roof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEverything was coming down on us,\u201d said Donna Blansett, Hart\u2019s grandmother. \u201cAll I could do was pray to God to save us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They escaped with just a few scratches and aches. Family members, friends and volunteers spent Sunday removing debris and salvaging anything they could find \u2013 some damp clothes, a photo album and a few toiletries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m so happy you\u2019re alive,\u201d Hart said through tears, as she embraced her grandmother on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The National Weather Service said tornado watches had mostly expired, but dangerous winds were still possible in the Carolinas, east Georgia and northern Florida<\/a> through Sunday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Arkansas, three deaths occurred, the state\u2019s department of emergency management said, adding that there were 32 injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eight deaths were confirmed in a crash involving more than 50 cars in Sherman county in Kansas<\/a> caused by a severe dust storm, the Kansas highway patrol said in a statement. Many injured travelers were taken to local hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At least two people died in Alabama<\/a> due to the severe weather, the state\u2019s governor, Kay Ivey, said in a social media post. \u201cWe have reports of damage in 52 of our 67 counties,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crashes caused by dust storms near Amarillo, Texas<\/a>, resulted in three deaths, according to the state\u2019s department of public safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n