Death toll rises for 2-day outbreak of storms in the South

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The death toll has risen to at least 36 from the two-day outbreak of strong storms that pounded the South, as Mississippi on Thursday reported two additional deaths.

The National Weather Service said more than 100 tornadoes struck the South on Sunday and Monday.

The acting U.S. secretary of homeland security, Chad Wolf, is travelling to south Mississippi on Friday to look at tornado damage in the Pine Belt region.

Forecast teams checking for damage found 105 storm tracks that totalled more than 770 miles (1,239 kilometres) in all. The worst storm was an EF-4 tornado that was on the ground for nearly 68 miles (109 kilometres) and claimed several lives in southeastern Mississippi, a report showed.

Forecasters determined Alabama had the most twisters, 21 beginning on Easter Sunday afternoon, but no one was killed in the state. Another 20 tornadoes were confirmed in neighbouring Georgia, where eight people died.

Tornadoes reached from the west in Texas, where six were confirmed, to Maryland, where survey teams determined two weak twisters struck.

The long-range forecast from the Storm Prediction Center shows there is another risk of severe weather across the region Sunday.