Severe Winter Weather 2020: Storms, Tornadoes Kill 11 People Across The South And Midwest

Severe weather conditions this weekend, which included tornadoes, high winds, and heavy rains, ripped across large portions of the Midwest and Southern U.S., resulting in 11 deaths. Weather conditions also knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of residents from Texas to Ohio.

Two of the fatalities reported were first responders who were hit by a car while working the scene of another vehicle accident on an icy road in Texas. Officer Nicholas Reyna, 27, was killed on the scene, while Firefighter Lt. David Hill, 39, was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Another firefighter, Matthew Dawson, 30, suffered critical injuries in the accident.

Other fatalities were caused by the specific weather hazards affecting different regions, including icy conditions in Texas, a strong tornado in Alabama, and extreme winds in Louisiana, which were so strong that a trailer was lifted into the air and carried hundreds of feet away. An Oklahoma man died from drowning.

Highways in parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas saw highway closures due to flooding. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued a state of emergency in order to help the maintenance crews working to restore power for many residents.

Alabama Power confirmed that 91,000 of its customers across the state lost power.

Elsewhere, 105,000 outages were reported in Georgia and 23,000 outages were reported in Tennessee. Exact numbers have not been given, but tens of thousands are believed to have lost power across both Mississippi and Louisiana.

In Chicago, ice and snow warnings Saturday forced the cancellations of over 1,200 flights. Ongoing winter weather, flood, and lakeshore flooding advisories are in effect for the city and the greater northwestern Illinois region.