States in the South and Midwest are recovering from a powerful storm system that struck between March 14 and March 17, killing at least 42 people.
The storm system threatened more than 50 million people. It brought hurricane-force winds, tornadoes, heavy rain and hail. In some states, it also brought dust storms and wildfires. Many died from tornado outbreaks and low-visibility dust storms, which caused vehicle crashes. The deaths occurred in seven states, with Missouri and Kansas having the highest death tolls.
The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam, warned America of four great judgments: Rain, hail, snow and earthquakes. His National Representative, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, has continued to warn the country and the world of Allah’s (God’s) Divine Chastisement.
In Part 10 of his 2013 lecture series, “The Time and What Must be Done,” Minister Farrakhan lifted biblical scripture on “men’s hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the Earth.”
“What are you afraid of, America? Look up above your head. Look at the storms! Look at the tornadoes! Look at the hurricanes! Look at the water! Look at the fire! Look at the wind! Look at (the) freezing cold!” Minister Farrakhan said. “God is after us. Men’s hearts are failing them with fear for what they see coming upon the Earth.”
The governors of Georgia, Oklahoma and Arkansas declared states of emergency.
Images depicted downed trees and powerlines, damaged homes, businesses and vehicles, debris in churches and properties ablaze.
Severe thunderstorms in Alabama and Mississippi were considered high risk. “This is the first high-risk issued for severe thunderstorms since last May and only the fifth in the past five years,” CNN reported.
The National Weather Service recorded two EF-4 tornadoes in Arkansas on the same day, a rarity that has not happened in over 25 years. At least seven EF-3 tornadoes were recorded.
The National Weather Service ranks tornadoes from wind estimates based on damage. With three-second wind gusts of over 200mph, EF-5 tornadoes are the most intense, followed by EF-4, EF-3, EF-2, EF-1 and EF-0.
Tornado watches and wind advisories were issued in parts of Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Washington. Almost 300 tornado warnings were issued across the South and Midwest.
News outlets recorded over 1,000 storm reports, including more than 100 tornado reports, at least 50 tornadoes and hundreds of high windstorm reports, with wind gusts of 60-80 mph.
Tupelo, Mississippi, and Bowling Green, Kentucky, saw record-breaking rainfall. Hailstorms also occurred in several states.
The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad wrote on the destructive powers of wind, rain and hail in his book, “The Fall of America,” in a chapter titled, “Four Great Judgments of America.”
“Wind with rain can bring destruction to towns and cities, bringing various germs, causing sickness to the people. It produces unclean water by the swelling of streams and destroying reservoirs of pure drinking water used for the health of the people. Rain is a destructive army within itself,” he wrote. “Hail stones are also a property and life destroyer.”
In Oklahoma, the storm sparked more than 130 wildfires that burned around 170,000 acres, destroyed nearly 400 structures and left 14,000 customers without power, according to CNN.
By that Saturday evening, March 15, 236,000 customers were without power, according to numbers CNN pulled from PowerOutage.us. This included over 92,700 in Missouri, over 70,200 in Michigan, over 27,000 in Texas, at least 25,400 in Mississippi and over 20,700 in Illinois.
The next night, over 53,000 customers were without power in Alabama, 50,000 in North Carolina, under 50,000 in Georgia and more than 9,000 in Virginia. By the evening of March 17, as the storm system made its way out, PowerOutage.us recorded over 14,000 power outages in Missouri, over 29,000 in Pennsylvania, thousands in New York and hundreds in Connecticut.
Several states saw flight cancellations and delays, including Florida, Washington, New York and Pennsylvania.
At presstime, another storm system followed, bringing more severe thunderstorms, high winds, dust storms, fires and blizzards.
By March 17, fires threatened parts of the Plains and the Rockies, affecting more than 40 million people. Red flag warnings were issued in parts of Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Kansas, New Mexico and Florida, according to the National Weather Service. On March 18, extremely critical fire weather conditions visited New Mexico, Texas and the Texas Panhandle.
Meanwhile, millions of people in the Rockies and Midwest were under winter storm watches and blizzard warnings on March 17 and 18, with threats of heavy snow and strong wind gusts from the second storm system.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad described snow as a dreaded plague that buries property and lives and destroys highways and cities.
“The cave-in of roofs of homes, the cutting off of homes, the cutting off of transportation, isolating areas, brings about starvation,” he wrote in “The Fall of America.”
From March 19 to March 20, severe thunderstorms traveled through the Midwest to the Southeast, into parts of Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama.
Richard Otto, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center, said there was likely to be a break from the extreme and tempestuous weather for “at least a few to several days”
But the overall pattern suggests that more storms will move across the country before the end of March, according to The New York Times. “This is probably not the last time we’ll talk about severe thunderstorms in the next several weeks,” he said.
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad referenced how God used snow, rain, wind, hail and earthquakes against wicked people in scripture.
“Is America any better than the people we read about in the history that God destroyed? No, she is not as good. These people were not as wicked as the American people,” he writes in “The Fall of America.”
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