A weekend of deadly tornadoes has left at least 40 people dead across multiple U.S. states, with Missouri suffering the highest death toll. The storms caused catastrophic damage, flipping school buses, demolishing homes, and leaving thousands without power. President Trump has deployed the National Guard to aid recovery efforts in Arkansas, while residents in hard-hit areas are stepping up to help one another. With tornado season just beginning, more severe weather is likely in the coming months.
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00:00The wreck of a school bus hangs upside down from the ruins of Winterboro High School in
00:06the U.S. state of Alabama, a testament to just how fierce the storm that hit this community
00:11Saturday was.
00:14An 83-year-old was killed inside as violent winds tore the building apart, one of nearly
00:2040 dead, after a weekend of powerful tornadoes, which shredded towns and caused deadly accidents
00:25across the Midwest to the Deep South.
00:28A satellite trained on one part of the South captured Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas
00:33alive and crackling with lightning as severe weather pushed through the region.
00:40It was here in Missouri to the north, though, that saw the deadliest of the storms.
00:44At least a dozen people died as tornadoes hit the state.
00:48Some of them were found by neighbors as they set out to help the injured.
00:52We were helping other people.
00:53We found a few bodies that were out in the field, a few deceased people.
00:57There was a guy that was probably about a quarter-mile back behind us through all these
01:00trees and debris.
01:02We ended up packing him out on a backboard.
01:04His name was Mike Gentles.
01:05We packed him out because he had a broken leg and arm.
01:09But it was a rough night.
01:10For the 100,000 or so people who live in these parts of the U.S., spring storms and tornadoes
01:15are a part of life.
01:17But even people who grew up here were caught off guard by the force of the weekend's maelstrom.
01:21I didn't think it was going to be this bad, because we've been through charge before,
01:24but I'm not nowhere near close to this, especially the time we've spent our entire lives in Georgia.
01:30We've never experienced a type of thunderstorm like this at all.
01:33U.S. President Donald Trump says he sent the National Guard to help recovery efforts in
01:38the state of Arkansas.
01:40But in damaged towns across the country, people are also banding together to get help where
01:44it's needed.
01:45We started earlier this morning.
01:47We rode through, cleared everything, trying to help people see where the help needed to
01:52be.
01:53We stopped by this gentleman's house right here, and they had a bunch of trees on his
01:56yard and stuff.
01:57So he stopped by to see if he needed help, and that's why we're here now, about to help
02:01him out.
02:02But this is just the beginning of North America's tornado season, with activity peaking in late
02:06spring and early summer, meaning more intense weather is likely on the way.
02:11Joseph Wu and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.