A mammoth and multifaceted storm – which was dealing wind, fire, choking dust and the threat of a blizzard – pummeled much of the country as it marched east.

Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses were left without power in central, southern and midwestern parts of the US on Wednesday.

Powerful storms killed two people in Mississippi, tore the roofs off an apartment building and a nursing home in a small town in Oklahoma and threatened more communities across the nation.