Local officials confirmed on Saturday that the death toll has jumped to 18 as a result of the major storm that took over US states, including Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Indiana, and Alabama. 

A spokesperson for the emergency management agency in Tennessee stated that seven casualties were caused by the weather. Tennessee is one of the states hit the hardest by the storm. 

The previous count of casualties was three killed by the "catastrophic" tornado, while severe storms further north caused the roof of an Illinois theater to collapse, leaving one person dead and 28 others injured, according to local police.

The Arkansas tornado whipped across the state in the afternoon, causing what Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders described as "widespread damage".

Sanders further stated that two people were killed in the town of Wynne in the eastern part of Arkansas, while an official in Pulaski County, which surrounds the capital Little Rock, affirmed a fatality there.

Frank Scott Jr., the mayor of Little Rock, stated that "almost 30 individuals have been brought to our local hospitals."

For parts of the nearby states of Tennessee, Illinois, and Iowa, the National Weather Service issued tornado warnings.

Citing Mississippi authorities, ABC News confirmed last Saturday that at least 14 people were dead as the result of a destructive tornado that hit the US state of Mississippi. 

Damage across 100 miles has been left due to the tornado, and search and rescue efforts remain underway in the counties of Sharkey and Humphreys. 

Read more: Tornadoes leave over 200,000 people without electricity in Texas