Five of the people died after Powerful storms hit a rural Texas townwhere they destroyed homes and left thousands of people without electricity, according to a state police chief.
Among the victims were three members of a family who were found in a home near Valley View, a rural town near the US border. OklahomaCooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington said.
The destructive storms began Saturday night. The authorities indicated that a tornado north of Dallas overturned heavy recreational vehicles, cut an interstate and caused extensive damage to a highway service station where several drivers had taken shelter.
“The search and rescue is ongoing,” Sappington said Sunday morning. “But we have already begun to recover the deceased as well. We have five confirmed (deaths), but unfortunately we believe that number will probably go up,” he noted.
The storms also destroyed a nearby truck stop where dozens of people had rushed for shelter. In Oklahoma, guests at an outdoor wedding were injured. Thousands of residents were left without power across the region.
“Only a trail of rubble remains. The devastation is quite serious,” Sappington said.
At least two people died in Arkansasincluding a 26-year-old woman who was found dead outside a destroyed home in Olvey, a small community in Boone County, said Daniel Bolen of the county’s Office of Emergency Management.
Another person died in Benton County, Arkansas. Melody Kwok, the county’s communications director, said many other people were injured and emergency workers were still responding to calls.
“We are still in search and rescue efforts at this time,” he said. “It is a very active situation.”
Authorities also confirmed two deaths in Mayes County, Oklahoma. Details about the deceased were not immediately available, said Mike Dunham, the county’s deputy director of emergency management.
Tornadoes cause disasters
Meteorologists had issued tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings in parts of the two states, after a day in which they fought temperature records daytime in the south of Texas and heat advisories were issued over the holiday weekend.
A tornado crossed northern Denton County, Texas. Saturday night and overturned large trucks, blocking traffic on Interstate 35, Denton County Community Relations Director Dawn Cobb said in a statement.
The tornado was confirmed near Valley View and moved east at 40 miles per hour (64 kilometers per hour), prompting the National Weather Service to issue a tornado watch for northern Denton County, Cobb said.
The storm caused damage to homes, overturned mobile homes and downed power lines and trees in places such as Sanger, Pilot Point, Ray Roberts Lake and Isle du Bois State Park, according to Cobb.
People who were injured in the storm were taken to area hospitals by ground and air ambulances, he said, although the number of injuries in the area was not initially known. A shelter was set up in Sanger.
People were believed trapped at a storm-damaged Shell truck service station in neighboring Cooke County, Cobb added.
The fire department in Denton, about 59.5 kilometers (37 miles) north of Fort Worth, Texas, said on the social network X that emergency personnel had responded to a marina for a report about “several victims, some trapped according to reports.”
On Saturday night, the office of the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, He also said in X that the alert affected northern Noble County and the southern tip of Kay, an area north of Oklahoma City. “If you are in the path of the storm, take cover now!” the office warned.
Another post at 10:05 p.m. indicated that the storms had left the area but warned of another system crossing northern Texas that could affect parts of south-central Oklahoma.
At 10:24 p.m., the weather service in Fort Worth, Texas, posted a message warning residents in Era and Valley View that they were in the direct path of a possible tornado and should take shelter immediately. The Fort Worth office continued to release reports and ask people to seek shelter and tracked the storm’s progress until after midnight. It also issued a severe thunderstorm warning and said there could be “hail the size of golf balls.”
The weather service in Tulsa, Oklahoma, warned in and Herd.
Norman’s office had warned on Saturday that the situation was very volatile and could produce dangerous winds, large hail and tornadoes.
As of Sunday morning, about 375,000 people were without power in Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas, according to the Poweroutage.us website.
High temperatures
He excessive heat, especially for the month of May, was the danger in South Texas, where wind chills were expected to reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius) in some places over the weekend. The actual temperature would be somewhat lower, but the humidity would make the sensation much stronger.
The region is at the northern end of a heat dome that ran from Mexico to South America, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Zack Taylor.
This Sunday could be the hottest day, with records for late May expected in Austin, Brownsville, Dallas and San Antonio, Taylor said.
Brownsville and Harlingen, near the border between Texas and Mexicoalready broke records on Saturday, May 25, with 37 ºC (99 ºF) and 38 ºC (100 ºF), respectively, according to the meteorological service.
There were also alerts in West Texas, all of New Mexico and parts of Oklahoma, Arizona and Colorado. Humidity was very low, below 10%, and gusts of up to 97 km/h (60 mph) were recorded.
“We have very dry air, warm temperatures and strong winds that create a high fire risk over a wide area … which can lead to uncontrollable or rapidly spreading fires,” Taylor said.
intense storms
April and May have been months of high tornado activity, especially in the north-central region of the country. Climate change is increasing the intensity of storms around the world.
The United States recorded the second highest number of tornadoes in April. So far in 2024, the country is already 25% above the average for tornadoes, according to the Norman Storm Prediction Center.
Iowa was dealt a tough blow this week when a deadly tornado ripped through Greenfield. And other storms caused flooding and wind damage in different parts of the state.
The storm system that caused the severe weather was expected to move east over Memorial Day weekend, bringing rain that could delay the Indianapolis 500 race in Indiana this Sunday, and more storms in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky.
The risk of severe weather moves to North Carolina and Virginia on Monday, according to forecasters.
Source: With information from AP / AFP
