A tornado that violently hit Little Rock and neighboring cities in ArkansasAt least four people have died and about 30 others have been injured in the American South, officials said, while ripping through roofs and walls of buildings, tossing cars like toys, uprooting trees and knocking out part of the power grid.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Republican governor of Arkansas, announced at a news conference late Friday night that four people had died in the town of Wynn, about 100 miles east of Little Rock, near the Tennessee border.

About 30 injured people were taken to hospitals by the fire department and other first responders, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott said, adding that no deaths have been reported so far.

Police said the damage was mostly to the western part of the city, with Mayor Scott calling the damage “significant”.

Baptist Health Medical Center in North Little Rock, across the Arkansas River, said it had taken in 11 injured people, one of whom is in critical condition. Local TV channel KTHV reported one death in North Little Rock, but this has not yet been officially confirmed.

According to the National Weather Service, whose meteorologists from the local office were forced to evacuate Friday afternoon, a strong tornado hit near Little Rock, Arkansas, causing injuries, blowing trees and destroying homes. https://t.co/dWWrmKqr5x pic.twitter.com/k6b7AOOmRg

— New York Times (@nytimes) March 31, 2023

According to its director Kevin Burton, up to 10 injured people were taken to the Unity Health hospital in nearby Jacksonville.

The death toll is feared to rise as Wynn police chief Richard Dennis told local TV station KAIT8 that his city had been “absolutely devastated” and spoke of dozens of people trapped under rubble.

Aerial photos broadcast by the Weather Channel show that several blocks of Little Rock are devastated, houses were left without roofs and walls, others collapsed, and overturned cars are scattered around.

Gov. Huckabee Sanders said yesterday she had declared a state of emergency and ordered the National Guard to be mobilized. He added that he was “praying” for the victims.

The US National Weather Service (NWS) previously issued an emergency warning. Tornadoes, a spectacular and destructive phenomenon that is especially difficult to predict, often hit the United States, especially in the central and southern regions of the country.

Scenes from Shackleford Road in Little Rock. #ARnews #arwx pic.twitter.com/Az1HSXX0I9

— AR Democrat-Gazette (@ArkansasOnline) March 31, 2023

A week ago, a tornado hit Mississippi, killing 25 people and causing massive property damage. US President Joe Biden visited the state yesterday. In December 2021, about 80 people died when a tornado hit Kentucky.