Tornadoes killed more than 15 people in six US states.

At least 18 people died from powerful tornadoes that hit the Midwest and South of the United States in the past hoursleaving thousands of people without power and even causing the roof of a theater where about 260 people were attending a heavy metal concert to collapse.

He the exact number of deaths is not known And it could increase in the coming hours as emergency services in the worst-hit states take to the streets to assess damage and find survivors, sometimes going door-to-door.

So far, local authorities have confirmed the death seven people in Tennessee, five in Arkansas, three in Indiana, one in Alabama, one in Illinois and one in Mississippi.

Given the devastating impact of tornadoes in the United States, President Joe Bidenspoke by phone with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell, who is coordinating the federal response to the disaster.

The president spoke by phone with Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sandersand with the mayors of Little Rock, Frank Scott Jr., and Wynn, Jennifer Hobbs, who represent the two cities in Arkansas most affected by tornadoes, according to a White House statement.

The governor of Arkansas, who was White House spokesman with Donald Trump between 2017 and 2019, mobilized 100 reserve members of the National Guard Corps to respond to the disaster and declared a state of emergency to put state resources at the service of the search.

In Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas, about 2,000 houses were damaged tornado and at least 30 people were hospitalized, according to Mayor Frank Scott Jr.

“We know the people of Little Rock are resilient and together we will get through this,” he said Saturday. Scott Jr. in a video on Twitterwhere a strong wind was still heard.

in northern Illinoisthe tornadoes left the scene of “absolute chaos,” according to Belvidere Police Chief Shane Woody, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Or rather, a tornado they caused a partial collapse of the roof of the theater in which at the time there were 260 people at a heavy metal concertthat left at least one dead and 28 injured, five of them in critical condition, according to the Belvidere Fire Department.