President Trump pledges help to affected states, cites 36 deaths National Guard deployed to Arkansas Missouri has highest number of fatalities among six states Power outages affect more than 340,000 consumers Some states still under watch for wind and potential tornadoes March 16 (Reuters) - Portions of Pennsylvania,

Nine of the 12 fatalities reported during last week's severe weather outbreak occurred in Wayne and Ozark counties.

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.

Meanwhile, the severe weather threat will linger through Sunday from Florida northward into the upper Ohio River Valley, forecasters warned.