The powerful storm killed at least 22 people, injured hundreds more and left a widespread trail of destruction across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky. A truck stop where dozens of people sought refuge in bathrooms during the latest deadly weather to hit the central United States was also destroyed.
The storm caused the worst damage to an area from north of Dallas to the northwest corner of Arkansas, and the system threatened to bring more violent weather to other parts of the Midwest. On Monday, forecasters said the greatest risk would move east, encompassing a wide swath of the country from Alabama to near New York City.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency in a post on social media platform X on Monday morning, citing “multiple reports of wind damage and tornadoes.”
At least two people were killed when a tree fell in Kentucky, authorities said. One death was confirmed in Mercer County Monday morning. One person was pronounced dead inside and a second person was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A second death was reported in Louisville, where a man died Sunday, police said. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg confirmed on social media that the death was storm-related.
Beshear confirmed two more deaths related to the storm during a news conference Monday morning, saying another person was “fighting for his life.”
“We believe at least a few tornadoes touched down, including one at least 40 miles away,” he said. One family that lost their home in the 2021 tornado also lost their home last night, he said.
Seven deaths were reported in Valleyview, Cook County, Texas, near the Oklahoma border, where a tornado ripped through a rural area near a mobile home park Saturday night, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news conference Sunday. The dead included two children, ages 2 and 5, and three family members were found dead in a home, according to the county sheriff.
Julio Cortez / AP
The storm left two people dead and damaged homes in Oklahoma, including a guest at an outdoor wedding and eight people in Arkansas.
According to Poweroutage.us, as of 11:15 a.m. EDT, 174,000 homes were without power in Kentucky, 66,000 in West Virginia, 61,000 in Arkansas, 59,000 in Missouri, 6,000 in Texas and 3,000 in Oklahoma. Beshear warned Monday morning that the storm could damage power infrastructure, leaving some places without power for days.
In Texas, about 100 people were injured and more than 200 homes and structures were destroyed as they sat in front of a destroyed truck stop near the small farming community of Valley View, Abbott said. The area was one of the hardest hit, with winds reaching 135 miles per hour, officials said.
“The hopes and dreams of Texas families and small businesses were literally crushed by the storm,” said Abbott, who faced a string of severe weather events, including a storm that killed eight people. in Houston earlier this month.
Julio Cortez / AP
Abbot signed an amended severe weather disaster declaration Sunday to include Denton, Montague, Cooke and Collin on the list of counties already declared disasters due to storms and flooding in late April.
Hugo Parra, who lives in Farmers Branch, north of Dallas, said he rode out the storm with 40 to 50 other people in a truck stop bathroom. The storm ripped off the building’s roof and walls, damaged metal beams and left battered cars in the parking lot.
“The firefighter came to check on us and said, ‘You’re so lucky,’” Farrar said. “The best way to describe it is that the wind was trying to rip us out of the bathroom.”
In Denton County, also north of Dallas, several people were taken to hospitals by ambulance and helicopter.
Abbott said no more deaths were expected and no one was reported missing in Texas, but response teams were conducting one more search just in case.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that a woman in the Pilot Point, Dallas area used her key fob to send an SOS signal after the twister howled.
The newspaper said the tornado overturned Amber Brian’s RV, trapping her inside. side. “Thank God, there are only a few bruises and no breaks,” the newspaper quoted her as saying. “It all happened so fast. I just said, ‘Lord, please put your arms around me and my pet and help me get through this.’”
Julio Cortez / AP
Others told CBS Texas how they survived when the funnel opened up. Roared the RV park on the marina..
Eight people have died across Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed at a news conference Sunday evening. Emergency officials said two deaths, including one who suffered a heart attack and another who lacked oxygen due to a power outage, were attributed to conditions related to the storm but were not directly caused by the weather.
Among the dead was a 26-year-old woman, whose body was found outside a destroyed home in the small Boone County town of Olvey, according to Daniel Bolen of the county’s Office of Emergency Management. One person died in Benton County, and two more bodies were found in Marion County, officials said.
In Oklahoma, two people died in Mays County, east of Tulsa, officials said.
Climate change and weather that makes history
The destruction continued during a grim month of deadly severe weather in the center of the country.
There was a tornado in Iowa last week. At least 5 people killed And dozens more were injured.
Deadly twisters have historically formed during tornado-prone seasons. weather change Contributes to the severity of storms around the world. April had the second-highest number of tornadoes on record in the United States.
Meteorologists and authorities issued urgent warnings to seek shelter as the storm marched across the region late Saturday into Sunday. “If you are in the path of this storm, take cover now!” National Weather Service office in Norman, Oklahoma, posted at
Harold Brooks, a senior scientist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, said a persistent pattern of warm, moist air is responsible for the string of tornadoes over the past two months.
Residents woke up Sunday to find cars overturned and garages collapsed. Some residents could be seen assessing the damage and speeding up. Nearby, neighbors sat on the foundations of their destroyed homes.
In Valley View, near a truck stop, the storm ripped off the roof of a home and blew out windows. Pieces of clothing, insulation, plastic and other debris were wrapped around miles of barbed wire fencing surrounding grazing lands in rural areas.
Kevin Dorantes, 20, was near Carrollton when he learned a tornado was hitting the Valley View neighborhood where he lived with his father and brother. He called the two men and told them to hide in a windowless bathroom and ride out the storm and survive.
As Dorantes wandered around downed power lines and ruined homes, he came across a family whose home had been reduced to a pile of broken rubble. His father and son were trapped in the rubble, and friends and neighbors rushed to get them out, Dorantes said.
“They were conscious but had serious injuries,” Dorantes said.
Inaccessible roads and downed power lines in Oklahoma led officials in the town of Claremore, near Tulsa, to announce on social media that the town was in lockdown due to the damage.
The system producing the latest severe weather was expected to move east for the remainder of the holiday weekend.
that much Indianapolis 500 A four-hour late start forced Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials to evacuate about 125,000 race fans after strong storms hit the area.
More severe storms were expected in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Forecasters said the severe weather risk moves into North Carolina and Virginia starting Monday.
