WICHITA — Strong storms that hit Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas since Thursday with winds, hail and tornadoes left more than seven dead and thousands of homes without power.
The bad weather took away roofs, uprooted trees and knocked down electrical poles on tracks, causing serious material damage.
Meanwhile, Houston was making progress in recovering from last week’s deadly storms.
In total, the damage is estimated at several hundred million dollars, according to the authorities of the affected states such as Tennessee, Kansas, Texas, Illinois, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma, among others.
Dozens of homes were damaged in Custer County in western Oklahoma, and two people were injured in Butler, emergency officials said Sunday night. There were reports that a nursing home was damaged in the town of Hydro.
Winds above 60 miles per hour were reported in several regions hit by the storms, which broke out Sunday afternoon, lasted all night and were moving eastward. But since Thursday, several states faced bad weather
100 mile per hour winds
In central Kansas, winds of 100 miles per hour were reported at the Salina airport, the National Weather Service said. There were reports of overturned trucks in Newton and Sedgwick counties, that agency said.
“Due to extensive damage and debris, please do not go out unless very necessary,” the city of Halstead advised online.
The agency said it received 13 reports of tornadoes on Sunday from Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado.
Classes were suspended on Monday in several communities that were cleaning up the damage. More storms were forecast during the day.
Houstonians affected by last week’s storms got some good news: Officials said power had been restored to hundreds of thousands of people who had been left in the dark, without air conditioning, amid hot, windy weather. wet.
Thursday’s storms left at least seven dead and paralyzed much of Houston.
Businesses and homes in rubble
Heavy rains and winds battered the city of more than 2 million people, reducing businesses and other structures to rubble, uprooting trees and shattering glass in downtown skyscrapers.
As of Sunday night, 88% of Houston-area customers had power, said Paul Lock, a spokesman for CenterPoint Energy.
More than 225,000 homes and businesses in Texas remained without power Monday in most of the Houston area. More than 1,800 customers remained without power in Louisiana, which was also affected by high winds and an apparent tornado.
The weather service predicted “sunny, hot and humid days” for the Houston area. High temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) with a wind chill of 39°C (102°F) are expected by midweek.
