A deadly tornado outbreak ripped through Missouri, Arkansas and Mississippi overnight Friday, leaving destruction, power outages and tragic loss in its wake.

The Arkansas Division of Emergency Management said 16 counties had reported damage from the storms on March 14.

Millions of Americans across the country are on alert for a severe weather outbreak as violent, long-track tornadoes with damaging winds of up to 80 mph and large hail are expected across the Midwest and South with the cross-country storm moving east.

A powerful storm system that tore across the United States in recent days is poised to move offshore into the Atlantic Monday, but in its wake are devastated communities across multiple states that were hit with violent tornadoes,