Tornadoes, hail kill at least 26 as crushing storms assault Midwest

Tornadoes and other severe storms have claimed the lives of at least 26 Americans across the U.S. heartland this weekend.

Arkansas suffered devastating storms and a tornado on Saturday, while Alabama, Illinois, Indiana and Tennessee also faced a severe battering.

The partial collapse of a residential building and the roof collapse of a theater, both in Illinois, accounted for four of the weekend’s confirmed deaths. Meanwhile, storms killed five in Arkansas on Friday and Saturday.

Two more deaths occurred when storm systems hit Alabama and Mississippi, while Tennessee alone suffered seven deaths. Three more people were killed when the storms hit Indiana.

ONE DEAD, DOZENS INJURED IN THEATRE ROOF COLLAPSE IN ILLINOIS

Even Delaware was not spared, with the state suffering one death after the storm caused a residential structure to collapse.

MIDWEST, SOUTH BRACE FOR MASSIVE STORMS, POSSIBLE MISSISSIPPI-STYLE TORNADO REPEAT

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders visited the affected areas of her state this weekend, helping to direct relief efforts. 

“I’m in constant communication with AR State Police and @AR_Emergencies who are working with local law enforcement to assist anyone injured. Praying for all those who were and remain in the path of this storm. Arkansans must continue to stay weather aware as storms are continuing to move through,” Sanders tweeted.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves also addressed the severe weather in a statement on Twitter, formally announcing his state’s sole fatality.

As of Saturday, tens of thousands of customers in the Midwest were without power. Outage tracker PowerOutage. The U.S. showed more than 680,000 out in Indiana, nearly 52,000 out in Arkansas and more than 34,000 out in Illinois.

Fox News’ Adam Sabes and Julia Musto contributed to this report.