Four dead as tornadoes tear through six southern US states

At least four people have died after dozens of tornadoes hit the southern United States, causing extensive property damage and leaving tens of thousands of people without power.

On Saturday and Sunday, nearly 40 tornadoes were recorded in Texas, North Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia and Arkansas.

Two of the deaths occurred in Mississippi, one more in Texas and one more in North Carolina.

According to National Weather Service (NWS) statistics, about 80 people are killed each year by tornadoes in the United States.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said one of the two deaths in the state had occurred in Adams County, about 92 miles (148 kilometers) west of the city of Jackson.

The second death occurred in Lowndes County, on the state’s border with Alabama. At least ten people were injured across the state.

As of 10:30 a.m. local time Monday (3:30 p.m. GMT), nearly 32,000 people were still without power in Mississippi, down from about 100,000 after the weekend storms, according to the PowerOutage.us website.

In Texas, a tornado warning on December 28 received a rare “particularly dangerous situation” designation from the Storm Prediction Center, a rare occurrence that occurs in only about 7% of tornadoes each year.

While there is no official criterion for issuing similar warnings, they are generally given when meteorologists believe multiple “strong” or “violent” tornadoes are imminent in a given area.

A 48-year-old woman was killed in Brazoria County in Texas, near the state’s Gulf Coast, according to the local sheriff’s office. Four people also suffered non-critical injuries.

In Montgomery County, Texas, north of Houston, approximately 300 buildings were damaged, including 30 completely destroyed, after tornadoes with winds of up to 145 mph hit the area.

The fourth death took place in North Carolina, where the state highway patrol said a 70-year-old man identified as Matthew Ronald Teeple died after being struck by a falling tree while driving.

According to NWS statistics, approximately 800 tornadoes occur in the United States each year, causing 80 deaths and 1,500 injuries.

This year, however, the United States recorded 1,762 tornadoes between January and November, the most since 2011.