More tornadoes ripped across the central US overnight and on Wednesday almost 40 million people remain at risk of severe weather across a vast area from Texas to New York.
Twisters have been raging across Kansas, tearing buildings apart outside Kansas City and injuring at least a dozen people in the latest barrage of dangerous weather.
With tornado warnings as far east as New York City, a huge chunk of the US is caught up in wild weather and flooding that goes far beyond a typical year of seasonal storms.
There were at least 27 tornadoes reported to the National Weather Service on Tuesday – hitting Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Illinois.
Meanwhile, historic flooding was hitting communities along the Arkansas River, with one death reported.
More than 39 million people are under enhanced risk of severe weather in areas stretching from Texas through the midwest and into the north-east, a CNN meteorologist said.
A dozen people have been hospitalized in Lawrence, Kansas, for storm-related injuries.
But the Kansas City metropolitan area of about 2.1 million people appeared to have been spared the direct hit that was feared earlier in the evening when the weather service announced a tornado emergency.
Homes were leveled in Linwood, Kansas, and the Kansas City airport temporarily halted flights and evacuated passengers, the Kansas City Star reported.
Mark Duffin, 48, said his home west of Linwood came crashing down around him as the tornado hit. He grabbed a mattress for protection and fled to the basement with his 13-year-old son. “I’m just glad I found my two dogs alive,” he said. “Wife’s alive, family’s alive, I’m alive. So, that’s it.”
Tuesday marked the 12th straight day that at least eight tornadoes were reported to the National Weather Service – the first time that has happened since 1980.
Severe storms and several tornadoes also swept through Pennsylvania, damaging homes. Powerful thunderstorms hit northern New Jersey, downing trees and causing widespread power outages. A possible tornado sighting was reported but not confirmed.
Two people suffered minor injuries, NJ.com reported. The school was closed on Wednesday.
A tornado warning was issued for the Staten Island borough in New York City but expired Tuesday night, with no tornadoes spotted. The area was pounded with heavy thunderstorms.
Tornadoes have swept the US over the last two weeks as a volatile mix of warm, moist air from the south-east and persistent cold from the Rockies clashed and stalled over the midwest, weather experts say.
“We’re getting big counts on a lot of these days and that is certainly unusual,” said Patrick Marsh, warning coordination meteorologist for the federal Storm Prediction Center.
Earlier, at least one person was killed and 130 injured as twisters swept across Indiana and Ohio on Monday.
Meanwhile, at least one person was killed in flooding along the Arkansas River. The river was predicted to crest on Wednesday at a record-breaking 42.5ft – more than four feet higher than the previous record, hit in 1945.
Police in Arkansas found a man’s body on Tuesday night in a van submerged in flood water near an army national guard post outside of Fort Smith.
Rick Gering said his Fort Smith home in Arkansas was flooded with three feet of water, despite sandbag barriers.He said it was like “watching a slow brutal death to your home”.
The Mississippi River is already approaching all-time records in several places, with more rain on the way.
