At least 18 dead in the US due to storms that cause destruction in several states

Powerful storms killed at least 18 people, injured hundreds and left a wide path of destruction in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, after destroying homes and hitting a truck service station where dozens of people took refuge in a bathroom, in a new episode of conditions deadly weather conditions in the central United States.

The storms caused the most damage in the region stretching from north Dallas to far northwest Arkansas, and the system threatened to bring more violent events to other parts of the north-central region of the country in the afternoon. By Monday, forecasters say, the highest risk will shift eastward, covering a wide swath of the country from Alabama to near New York City.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced that he had declared a state of emergency Monday morning in a post on the social media site X following “multiple reports of tornadoes and wind damage.”

Seven deaths were reported in Cooke County, Texas, near the Oklahoma border, where a tornado tore through a rural area near a trailer park Saturday night, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday. Among the dead were two children, ages 2 and 5. Three members of a family died in a house, the county police chief said.

The storms also killed two people and destroyed homes in Oklahoma, where the injuries included guests at an outdoor wedding, as well as eight people in Arkansas and another in Kentucky. Tens of thousands of residents were left without power across the region.

In Texas, about 100 people were injured and more than 200 homes and structures were destroyed, Abbott said at a vandalized truck stop next to the small farming town of Valley View. The area was among the worst affected, with gusts estimated to have reached 217 kilometers per hour (135 miles per hour).

“The dreams and hopes of Texas families and small businesses have been literally crushed by storm after storm,” said Abbott, whose state has seen several rounds of extreme weather, including storms that killed eight people in Houston.

Hugo Parra, a resident of Farmers Branch, north of Dallas, said he rode out the storm with 40 to 50 people in the bathroom at a truck stop near Valley View. The storm collapsed the roof and walls of the building, twisting metal beams and leaving destroyed cars in the parking lot.

“A firefighter came to check on us and told us, ‘You guys are very lucky,’” Parra said. “The best way to describe this is that the wind tried to blow us away from the bathrooms.”

Several people were taken to hospitals by ambulance and helicopter in Denton County, Texas, also north of Dallas.

Eight people died in Arkansas, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed at a news conference Sunday night. An emergency official said two deaths were due to the circumstances of the storm although they were not a direct consequence of the weather, as one person had suffered a heart attack and another was left without oxygen due to a power outage.

In Oklahoma, two people died in Mayes County, east of Tulsa, according to authorities.

A man was killed Sunday in Louisville, Kentucky, when a tree fell on him, police said. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenburg confirmed on social media that the death was related to the storm.

A deadly series of storms

The destruction continued with a grim month of deadly weather events in the central part of the country.

At least five people were killed and dozens injured by tornadoes in Iowa last week. Tornado season has been especially bad, at a time when climate change is contributing to the strength of storms around the world. April was the second month with the most tornadoes ever recorded in the United States.

Forecasters and authorities urgently urged people to take cover as storms moved through the region Saturday night and Sunday.

Harold Brooks, a senior scientist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, said the string of tornadoes over the past two months was due to a persistent pattern of warm, moist air.

The system that caused the latest bouts of severe weather was expected to move east for the remainder of the holiday weekend.

The Indianapolis 500 started four hours late after a strong storm hit the area, forcing those responsible for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to evacuate some 125,000 fans.

More severe storms were expected in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. The risk of bad weather would shift to North Carolina and Virginia on Monday, according to experts.

[Con información de The Associated Press]

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