Severe storms over the weekend killed at least 18 people in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas, according to the Associated Press, with new information from Arkansas late Sunday night.
Officials reported 25 tornadoes across the five affected states.
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- 1 Texas hit hard
- 2 2 killed in Arkansas, officials say
- 3 2 deaths in Oklahoma
- 4 Latest forecasts
Texas hit hard
During a news conference on Sunday evening, Governor Greg Abbott revealed that the extreme weather in Texas resulted in seven deaths and over a hundred injuries.
Abbott reports that 106 Texas counties have received disaster status.
Texas officials reported on Sunday that tornado activity, initially classified as an EF2 with winds of 125 mph, destroyed more than 200 homes or structures and damaged another 120.
Abbott lamented those slain in the storms, adding, “There’s only one thing that can’t be rebuilt, and that’s a loss of life. That’s why we always tell everyone, whatever you do in any type of storm, put life first.”
Officials in Cooke County, Texas, reported the deaths of a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old from the same family. According to the Cooke County Sheriff’s Office, the youngsters were among seven persons slain in the area north of Dallas.
The tornado that ripped across Cooke County was preliminary rated an EF-2, with winds gusting to 135 mph.
The hurricane ripped down a roadside travel center at Valley View, Texas, before moving on to a manufactured home subdivision, according to Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington.
He reported to Dallas-Fort Worth ABC affiliate WFAA that approximately 60 people had sustained injuries.
According to Sappington, the majority of the fatalities occurred at the nearby FRF Estates in Valley View, a manufactured home development about 60 miles northwest of Dallas.
He said emergency response personnel were scanning the development for survivors Sunday morning, citing “major damage.”
According to Sappington, another hard-hit place was the Gateway AP Travel Center near Valley View, where many people pulled off the road to take cover in the parking lot or the truck stop’s bathrooms. Sappington reported that 60 to 80 people were hurt at the site.
“The storm has caused significant damage to numerous homes and businesses, including the Gateway AP Travel Center, which received major damage,” the Cooke County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Sunday morning. “Emergency services are actively searching the debris for missing persons, and there have been numerous injuries of varying degrees reported.”
Sappington asked residents to avoid storm-damaged regions while rescue services looked for survivors and cleaned roadways of debris.
“It would really help if people just stayed away right now and gave us a few hours to get our search and rescue done,” Sappington stated. “I know some individuals were leaving the area and trying to return, but it’s dangerous out there. Power lines are down. There are reports of gas leakage. It’s simply risky right now. Give us some time to finish what we need to do. We’re still attempting to save people. The best thing people can do right now is give us some time.
Meanwhile, the Bella Vista Police Department reported that a landslide had closed Highway 340 in both directions. Authorities stopped the highway after torrential rains washed out the ground beneath it and “compromised the road surface.”
2 killed in Arkansas, officials say
Arkansas officials have confirmed that two individuals lost their lives in the wake of a possible tornado that struck early Sunday morning. The first fatality occurred in Benton County, located in the northwest region of the state, while the second victim, a 26-year-old woman, was found deceased outside a demolished residence in Olvey, Boone County.
During a news conference, Benton County Judge Barry Moehring reported that in addition to the two fatalities, there were also a number of injuries in Benton County.
According to Moehring, a tornado was reported in Decatur, Benton County, with two additional possible touchdowns near Beaver Lake.
The storm caused extensive damage in Bentonville, with numerous trees and powerlines knocked down. The powerful straight-line winds even destroyed part of the courthouse, as reported by Moehring.
Emergency crews are currently responding to reports of individuals who are trapped in the debris, he stated.
The downtown area of Rogers, Arkansas, located in Benton County, has been heavily damaged, as seen in the photos shared by the local police department on their Facebook page. Emergency teams are currently conducting search and rescue operations to find survivors and evaluate the extent of the destruction.
The Rogers Police Department took to Facebook to urge people to refrain from driving around barricades, emphasizing that the presence of too many cars on the streets hampers their ability to respond effectively. They highlighted the importance of maintaining open roads and tree-lined streets in order to ensure swift emergency response.
2 deaths in Oklahoma
According to the Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, a possible tornado struck Pryor, Oklahoma, resulting in the tragic loss of two lives. The affected area is located approximately 45 miles east of Tulsa. This information was reported by KTUL, an ABC affiliate in Tulsa.
Latest forecasts
Multiple rounds of strong storms are possible as the threat of more severe weather on Sunday has shifted eastward over parts of the Mississippi and Ohio River valley.
The National Weather Service has issued tornado watches for parts of central Kentucky, including the cities of Louisville and Bowling Green, as well as western and middle Tennessee, including Nashville and Knoxville. These watches are in effect until 3 p.m. CT on Sunday.
Severe storms are expected to sweep across a large area of the Great Plains on Sunday night, making their way into Iowa. This comes as residents in Iowa are still recovering from a devastating series of tornadoes that hit near Des Moines on Tuesday night. The town of Greenfield was particularly hard-hit, with half of it being leveled and four lives tragically lost, according to officials.
An enhanced risk of damaging winds, hail, and tornadoes is anticipated in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, northern Tennessee, and the southwestern edge of Ohio. These areas are likely to experience the most intense storms.
Southern Missouri to much of Kentucky is expected to experience potentially dangerous flash flooding from Sunday afternoon through Sunday night. The forecast also includes severe thunderstorm and tornado threats.
Strong, slow-moving thunderstorms are forecasted for Sunday afternoon, posing a risk of torrential rain and flash flooding in multiple states, including Illinois, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The region most at risk for flooding is southern Illinois, particularly around Carbondale.
