Death toll climbs to 43 as wild weather tears across parts of US

The U.S. was hit by storms in the south, southwest and midwest over the Christmas weekend, unleashing floods and tornadoes that killed at least 43 people, flattened buildings and snarled transportation for millions during the busiest travel time of the year.

Hundreds of flights across the affected regions have been canceled and with major highways flooded, the storm system is wreaking havoc on holiday travel plans for millions of Americans. The National Weather Service issued a warning for blizzards, freezing rain and flash floods in the coming days – all part of a powerful storm system fueled by the unseasonably warm air that settled in the Deep South last Wednesday.

The ominous weather forecast prompted the governors of Missouri and New Mexico to declare a state of emergency in those states. Flash flooding has already killed at least 13 people in Missouri and Illinois.

Emergency workers in Missouri have evacuated residents from their homes and conducted dozens of water rescues, Governor Jay Nixon said on Sunday. At least eight people have been killed and numerous roadways have been closed.

The Missouri governor says that persistent rainfall will make widespread flooding conditions worse in the coming days, leading him to declare the state of emergency. Three adults and two children were driving near the town of Patoka, Illinois, 85 miles (137 km) east of St. Louis, Missouri, when their car was washed away by floodwaters on Saturday night, according to the Marion County Coroner, Troy Cannon.

Texas is still reeling from rare December tornadoes yesterday, as storms continue to batter a vast region of the U.S. stretching from the southwestern U.S. all the way to Canada, claiming at least 43 lives. In Texas, at least 11 people were killed by tornadoes in the Dallas area over the weekend, with one tornado reportedly packing winds of up to 200 miles per hour (322 km per hour). The twister hit the city of Garland, killing eight people and blowing vehicles off highways. "It is total devastation," Garland Police spokesman Lieutenant Pedro Barineau said. "It is a very difficult time to be struck by such a horrible storm the day after Christmas."

Three other deaths were reported in the Dallas metropolitan area, the fourth most populous city in the U.S. with about 7 million residents. Scores of people have been injured in the region and officials estimate around 800 homes have been damaged.

According to the weather service, three tornadoes were reported in Arkansas on Sunday but there were no initial reports of injuries or damage. Tornado watches and warnings have been issued for areas across Arkansas as well as parts of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

A tornado watch indicates that a storm is likely, while a warning means a twister has been sighted. The storms came on the heels of tornadoes that hit two days before Christmas, killing at least 18 people, including 10 in Mississippi. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott said that Dallas County and three nearby counties have been declared disaster areas. He also warned people to be wary of snow in western parts of the state and rivers spilling over their banks in some places.

The National Weather Service has issued severe weather advisories for large parts of the central U.S. as well, including a blizzard warning for parts of New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma, with a flash flood watch stretching from Texas to Indiana. The governor of New Mexico, Susana Martinez, declared a state of emergency for the entire state a winter storm dumped up to two feet of snow in the state by Sunday night.

The New Mexico city of Roswell saw a record 12.3 inches of snow by Sunday evening, the most snowfall seen in a 24 hour period, according to the National Weather Service. Blizzard-like conditions forced the cancellation of nearly 1,500 flights in the U.S. on Sunday, according to the online-tracking service, FlightAware.com. Roughly half of all canceled flights were in Dallas, a major U.S. flight hub.

The threat of powerful tornadoes typically increases in the Central U.S. during spring and summer and are less common in winter, according to records.