Local news channels across the affected region showed video of roofs torn off homes, trees felled, and trucks overturned by high winds.
Eight people died in Kansas in a crash involving more than 50 vehicles, caused by low visibility during a "severe dust storm," local police said.
In Oklahoma, four people were killed as wildfires and strong winds swept across the state, the local emergency management department said.
Mississippi's state governor said in a post on X that at least six people had been killed there, with three still missing.
"We are actively monitoring the severe tornadoes and storms that have impacted many States across the South and Midwest," President Donald Trump posted earlier Sunday on Truth Social, putting the toll at 36.
He said National Guard troops were deployed in Arkansas, where officials said three people had died and 32 had been injured in the storm.
"The damage is overwhelming," Missouri governor Mike Kehoe said in a statement after visiting some of the hardest-hit areas in that state.
"Homes and businesses have been destroyed, entire communities are without power, and the road to recovery will not be easy."
Earlier, the Missouri State Highway Patrol confirmed 12 storm-related fatalities and shared images of boats piled on top of one another at a marina destroyed by the weather.
In Texas, local authorities said four people had died in vehicle accidents linked to dust storms and fires that reduced visibility on the roads.
The United States saw the second-highest number of tornadoes on record last year with nearly 1,800, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), trailing only 2004.
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