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 that killed two people in Mississippi and ripped roofs from buildings in a small Oklahoma town are charging across the nation, threatening more communities in the central to eastern United States with wide-ranging weather.