By ACACIA CORONADO, SOPHIA TAREEN, JULIO CORTEZ and KATHY McCORMACK (Associated Press)
VALLEY VIEW, Texas (AP) — Violent storms killed at the very least 11 people and left a large trail of destruction in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas on Sunday, destroying homes and destroying a rest area where drivers sought shelter throughout the latest deadly storms to hit the central United States.
Seven deaths were reported in Cooke County, Texas, near the Oklahoma border, where a tornado ripped through a rural area near a mobile home park Saturday night, officials said. Storms also caused damage in Oklahoma, where guests at an outside wedding were injured. Tens of 1000’s of residents across the region were without power.
“All that's left is a trail of rubble. The devastation is pretty bad,” Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington told the Associated Press.
Among the dead were two children, ages two and five, the sheriff said. Storms also destroyed a close-by rest stop where dozens of individuals had sought shelter.
Among the dead in Texas were three relations who were present in a house near the small community of Valley View, Sappington said.
Officials said several people were taken by ambulance and helicopter to hospitals in Denton County, Texas, but the precise extent of their injuries was not yet known.
In Arkansas, at the very least two people were reportedly killed, including a 26-year-old woman who was found dead outside a destroyed home in Olvey, a small community in Boone County, in keeping with Daniel Bolen of the county's emergency management office.
Another person died in Benton County, Arkansas. Melody Kwok, communications director for the county, said several other people were injured and emergency crews were still responding to 911 calls.
“We are currently still busy with search and rescue,” she said. “The situation is very hectic.”
Authorities also confirmed two deaths in Mayes County, Oklahoma. Further details on the deaths weren’t immediately available, said Mike Dunham, deputy director of emergency management for the county.
The destruction continued a grim month of deadly storms in the middle of the country.
Tornadoes in Iowa this week left at the very least five dead and dozens of injuries. The deadly hurricanes occurred during a historically bad tornado season, at a time when Climate change contributes to the severity of storms world wide. In April, there was the second highest variety of tornadoes on record within the country.
In Texas, a tornado hit Denton County, north of Dallas, overturning semi-trailers and bringing traffic to a standstill on Interstate 35, said county spokeswoman Dawn Cobb. An emergency shelter was arrange in the agricultural town of Sanger.
Sappington said at the very least 60 to 80 people were in a rest stop along the highway, a few of them searching for shelter because the storm swept through; nonetheless, there have been no serious injuries.
As day broke, the complete extent of the devastation became clear. Aerial photographs showed dozens of damaged houses, many without roofs and others in ruins.
When residents woke up, they saw overturned cars and collapsed garages. Some residents walked forwards and backwards, sifting through scraps of wood and assessing the damage. Nearby, neighbors sat on the inspiration of a destroyed house.
At the peak of the storms, greater than 24,000 homes and businesses in Oklahoma were without power, in keeping with the state Emergency Management Agency. The agency also reported extensive damage from baseball-sized hail and diverse injuries at an outside wedding going down in rural Woods County.
Meteorologists and authorities issued urgent warnings to hunt shelter because the storms moved through the region overnight. “If you are in the path of this storm, seek shelter immediately!” the National Weather Service office in Norman posted on X, formerly generally known as Twitter.
In Texas, the Denton Fire Department posted on social media that rescue crews were en path to a marina near Dallas “with multiple victims, some of whom are reported to be trapped.” Inaccessible roads and downed power lines in Oklahoma also prompted officials within the town of Claremore, near Tulsa, to announce on social media that the town was on “lockdown” on account of the damage.
April and May were a month of tornadoes, especially within the Midwest. Iowa was hit hard last week when a deadly tornado devastated GreenfieldOther storms brought flooding and storm damage to other parts of the state.
The system that caused the recent storm was expected to maneuver eastward over the Memorial Day weekend.
The start of the Indianapolis 500 needed to be postponed on account of a robust storm that forced officials on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to evacuate about 125,000 racing fans who were already on the finish line.
A severe weather warning was displayed on the video boards contained in the race track as rain, accompanied by dangerous winds and lightning, was approaching from the west.
More severe storms were forecast in Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky.
Meteorologists expect the specter of severe weather to maneuver to North Carolina and Virginia on Monday.
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Tareen reported from Chicago and McCormack from Concord, NH
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