The powerful storm killed at least 18 people and left a widespread trail of destruction in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas on Sunday, destroying homes, destroying truck stops and sending dozens of people seeking shelter in toilets in the latest wave of deadly weather to hit the central US.
Seven people were reported dead in Cook County, Texas, near the Oklahoma border, after a tornado struck a rural area near a mobile home park on Saturday night, authorities said. The storm also killed two people in Oklahoma, damaged homes and injured guests at an outdoor wedding.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said at a press conference Sunday that about 100 people were injured in Saturday’s tornado, but that the exact death toll was “hard to say with any certainty.” Abbott said more than 200 homes and other buildings were destroyed and more than 100 were damaged. “I would be surprised if those numbers weren’t higher,” he added.
Tens of thousands of residents across the region were left without power.
The storms late Saturday spawned tornadoes that overturned vehicles and closed parts of highways in the Dallas metropolitan area, and several people were taken to hospitals by ambulance and helicopter in Denton County, authorities said, but the extent of their injuries was not immediately clear.
In nearby Cook County, Sheriff Ray Sappington told CBS News that authorities had confirmed five deaths from the extreme weather by Sunday morning. Officials later raised Cook County’s death toll to seven. The dead included two children, ages 2 and 5, the sheriff told The Associated Press. Abbott said the children were from the same family.
“We had no way of knowing when we woke up yesterday that our family would literally be crushed by this terrible storm,” Abbott said of his family.
The sheriff’s office previously told The Associated Press that the five included a family of three whose bodies were found in a home near Valley View, a rural town near the Oklahoma border and about an hour’s drive north of Dallas.
Sappington told CBS News that parts of Cook County were devastated by the storm, and he said the death toll was likely to rise as search and rescue efforts continued Sunday morning for several people still missing.
“There’s just a bunch of debris left behind with no traces of it. The damage is pretty significant,” Sappington told The Associated Press. Valley View Police Chief Justin Stamps told CBS News on Sunday that the death toll in the area could reach six.
“We don’t know the exact number, but the latest estimate is probably five or six,” Stamps said. “When the sun comes up, the full extent of what we’re dealing with will become clear.”
Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said in a social media post that the state’s emergency response teams had been mobilized to respond to the tornadoes.
“Please pray for these families, their loss is immeasurable,” he said. “Jean and I are praying for the first responders, the families in all affected areas, and the victims who tragically lost their lives.”
At least eight people were reported dead in Arkansas, including a 26-year-old woman whose body was found outside a destroyed home in the small Boone County town of Albay, said Daniel Boren of the county’s emergency management office.
The Arkansas Emergency Management Agency confirmed to CBS News that three people had died in Benton County.
Details about the two deaths in Mayes County, Oklahoma, were not immediately available, said Mike Dunham, deputy director of emergency management for the county.
Andrew Wurst
Scattered severe storms pounded Oklahoma, with forecasters issuing tornado warnings for parts of the state on Saturday night, while daytime temperature records were broken in South Texas and warnings of triple-digit temperatures over the holiday weekend.
The National Weather Service office in Norman said via X that the warning was for northern Noble County and southern Kay County, north of Oklahoma City.
“If you are in the path of this storm, evacuate now!” it read.
The weather service earlier likened conditions on Saturday to a “glowing pile of brush” and forecasters said the developing storm could pack large hail, dangerously strong winds and tornadoes.
“With most games falling through, there’s a small chance we’ll only see a few storms today. Still, it’s not a game I want to play. It only takes one storm to make an impact,” the Norman, Oklahoma, weather service wrote on Facebook.
Judge Mike Campbell of Clay County in North Texas said in a social media post Saturday night that a possible tornado had blown roofs off two homes and destroyed one business, but he said there were no immediate reports of injuries.
A spokesperson for Sedgwick County, Kansas, which includes Wichita, said in an email to CBS News that the area was hit by downed trees and damaged power lines from the storm, with about 8,000 customers without power.
The Woodward County Emergency Management Agency in Oklahoma confirmed that a tornado had touched down southwest of the small town of Mutual, causing minor damage to a home and a trailer and downed power lines, but no injuries were reported.
South Texas will be experiencing dangerously hot weather, especially for May, with heat indexes expected to approach 120 degrees Fahrenheit in some locations over the weekend. While actual temperatures will be lower, they will still be in the triple-digit range and with high humidity, it will feel even hotter.
Parts of Texas, including Houston, have already been hit by severe storms and power outages, with residents Vulnerable to high temperatures The incident occurred in early May. The area is on the northern edge of a heat dome that stretches from Mexico into South America, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Zach Taylor.
Taylor said Sunday is shaping up to be the hottest day of the year, with Austin, Brownsville, Dallas and San Antonio expected to break late May temperature records.
Temperatures in Brownsville, on the U.S.-Mexico border, approached 90 degrees Saturday morning, with the heat index reaching 104, according to the National Weather Service.
Red flag fire warnings were also issued for parts of West Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arizona and Colorado. Humidity was very low, below 10%, and wind gusts of up to 60 mph were recorded.
“Very dry air, high temperatures and strong winds are creating a widespread increased fire danger, which could cause fires to spread quickly or get out of control,” Taylor said.
Meanwhile, Rolla, North Dakota, about 10 miles from the Canadian border, saw several inches of snow fall between Friday and early Saturday morning.
of Millions of people travel Travelers over the Memorial Day weekend are being warned that severe weather could wreak havoc on travel plans.
April and May were busy months for tornadoes, especially in the Midwest. Climate Change Storms around the world are becoming more intense.
In April, domestic Second most frequent tornado outbreaks That’s the most tornadoes on record, according to the National Weather Service, and the average number of tornadoes in the US is already on track to increase by 25% by 2024, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
Iowa has suffered its hardest hit tornado this week so far. Destroyed GreenfieldAt least five people were killed and dozens injured in the storm, which broke out in a city about 55 miles south of the state capital, Des Moines. Other storms caused flooding and wind damage in other parts of the state.
The storm, which caused the recent severe weather, was expected to move east through the remainder of the holiday weekend.
of Indianapolis 500 starts four hours late Strong storms pounded the area, forcing Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials to evacuate about 125,000 race fans.
More severe storms were expected in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee, with a tornado emergency being issued in Kentucky early Sunday night.
Forecasters said the risk of severe weather will move into North Carolina and Virginia on Monday.
