As high winds blow through the South this weekend, thousands of acres of wildfires are raging in Texas. An outbreak of wildfires began in Texas on Friday as winds exceeded 30 miles per hour and dry land provided the ideal fuel.

Strong winds are pushing smoke and ash from the Crabapple Fire near Fredricksburg east toward Austin, according to the National Weather Service.

About 47 million people faced an enhanced to moderate severe storm threat from Madison, Wisconsin, to Birmingham, Alabama.

Violent tornadoes and high winds decimated homes, wiped out schools and toppled semitractor-trailers as a monster storm that killed at least 32 people ripped its way across the central and southern U.

A powerful system of storms is sweeping across the Midwest and South, raising tornado warnings. In Texas, wildfires erupted and high winds caused three fatal crashes, officials said.