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At least 5 dead in Texas after severe weather sweeps across Texas & Oklahoma

Powerful storms across Texas and Oklahoma obliterated homes and struck a highway travel center where drivers had rushed to take shelter, leaving thousands of people without power and a wide trail of damage Sunday. A sheriff said at least five people were dead in one rural community in Texas and many more were injured.

Quick Read

  • At least 5 dead in Texas after severe weather sweeps across Texas and Oklahoma, authorities say
  • Fatalities in Texas: Powerful storms left at least five people dead in Cooke County, Texas, with significant damage and injuries reported.
  • Severe Damage: The storms destroyed homes, overturned vehicles, and caused widespread power outages across Texas and Oklahoma.
  • Tornadoes and Thunderstorms: Tornadoes overturned trucks and caused road closures near Dallas, with multiple injuries reported and people transported to hospitals.
  • Extended Impact: The severe weather also caused significant damage in Arkansas, with one confirmed death and widespread power outages.
  • Emergency Responses: Authorities opened shelters and dispatched emergency services to affected areas, with ongoing efforts to assess the full extent of the damage.
  • Continued Threat: Forecasters warned of ongoing severe weather risks, with excessive heat in South Texas and potential further storms in the Midwest and East Coast over the Memorial Day weekend.

The Associated Press has the story:

At least 5 dead in Texas after severe weather sweeps across Texas & Oklahoma

Newslooks- OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) —

Powerful storms across Texas and Oklahoma obliterated homes and struck a highway travel center where drivers had rushed to take shelter, leaving thousands of people without power and a wide trail of damage Sunday. A sheriff said at least five people were dead in one rural community in Texas and many more were injured.

The destructive storms began Saturday night and included a tornado that overturned heavy recreational vehicles and shut down an interstate near Dallas. Officials said multiple people were transported to hospitals by ambulance and helicopter in the Texas county of Denton but did not immediately know the full extent of injuries.

Sheaka Morshed wears sunblock on his face as temperatures climb into the high 90s Fahrenheit while watching the Team USA cricket match against Bangladesh, part of a three-game T20I series at the Prairie View Cricket Complex, Saturday, May 25, 2024, in Houston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)

In neighboring Cooke County, Sheriff Ray Sappington told The Associated Press that the five dead included three family members who were found in one home near Valley View, a rural community near the border with Oklahoma.

“We do have five confirmed (dead), but sadly, we think that that number is probably going to go up,” Sappington said. ”There’s nothing left of this house. It’s just a trail of debris left. The devastation is pretty severe.”

Severe storm clouds move across the northwest edge of Davenport, Iowa on Friday, May 24, 2024. Several tornadoes were reported in Iowa and Illinois as storms downed power lines and trees on Friday, just after a deadly twister devastated one small town.(Roy Dabner/Quad City Times via AP)

Forecasters had issued tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of both states, as some heat records were broken during the day in South Texas and residents received triple-digit temperature warnings over the long holiday weekend.

In Arkansas, damaged buildings, uprooted trees and downed power lines were reported across the northwest edge of the state. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses reported power outages. Benton County Judge Barry Moehring confirmed one death.

Margaret Cantu waits in the heat for food and water from volunteers Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center in Houston. “I’m trying to forget the storm, it really scares me,” she said. Cantu, 68, lives with her 70-year-old husband. She said they don’t have power. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP)/Houston Chronicle via AP)

The destruction continued a grim month of deadly severe weather in the U.S.

Tornadoes in Iowa this week left at least five people dead and dozens injured. The deadly twisters have spawned during a historically bad season in the country for tornadoes, at a time when climate change is heightening the severity of storms around the world. April had the second-highest number of tornadoes on record in the country.

Late Saturday, a tornado crossed into northern Denton County in Texas and overturned tractor-trailer trucks, stopping traffic on Interstate 35, Denton County Community Relations Director Dawn Cobb said in a statement.

A spctator cools herself with a small electric fan as temperatures climb into the high 90s Fahrenheit while she and friends watch the Team USA cricket match against Bangladesh, part of a three-game T20I series at the Prairie View Cricket Complex, Saturday, May 25, 2024, in Houston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)

The tornado was confirmed near Valley View, moving east at 40 mph (64 kph), prompting the National Weather Service to issue a tornado warning for northern Denton County, Cobb said.

The storm damaged homes, overturned motorhomes and knocked down power lines and trees throughout the area including points in Sanger, Pilot Point, Ray Roberts Lake and Isle du Bois State Park, Cobb said.

This Thursday, May 23, 2024 satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows destruction in Greenfield, Iowa after a Tuesday, May 21 tornado. (Maxar Technologies via AP) Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies

People who suffered injuries in the storm were transported to area hospitals by ground and air ambulances, but the number of injuries in the county was not immediately known, Cobb said, while a shelter was opened in Sanger.

The fire department in the city of Denton, about 37 miles (59.5 kilometers) north of Forth Worth, Texas, posted on X that emergency personnel were responding to a marina “for multiple victims, some reported trapped.”

This Thursday, May 23, 2024 satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows destruction in Greenfield, Iowa after a Tuesday, May 21 tornado. (Maxar Technologies via AP) Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies

The Claremore, Oklahoma, police announced on social media that the city about 28 miles (45 kilometers) east of Tulsa was “shut down” as a result of storm damage including downed power lines and trees and inaccessible roads.

Earlier Saturday night, the National Weather Service’s office in Norman, Oklahoma, said via the social platform X that the warning was for northern Noble and far southern Kay counties, an area located to the north of Oklahoma City. “If you are in the path of this storm take cover now!” it said.

A following post at 10:05 p.m. said storms had exited the area but warned of a storm moving across north Texas that could affect portions of south central Oklahoma.

This combination of Oct. 22, 2022 and May 23, 2024 satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies shows destruction in Greenfield, Iowa after a Tuesday, May 21 tornado. (Maxar Technologies via AP) Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies

At 10:24 p.m., the weather service office in Fort Worth posted a message warning residents in Era and Valley View they were in the direct path of a possible tornado and to immediately seek shelter. The Forth Worth office continued to post notices and shelter warnings tracking the movement of the storm through midnight and separately issued a severe thunderstorm warning with “golf ball sized hail” possible.

A person crosses Caroline Street in the afternoon heat Saturday, May 25, 2024, near Discovery Green in Downtown Houston. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP)

The weather service office in Tulsa, Oklahoma, warned on X of a dangerous storm moving across the northeast part of the state through 2 a.m. and issued severe thunderstorm notices for communities including Hugo, Boswell, Fort Towson, Grainola, Foraker and Herd.

This Thursday, May 23, 2024 satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows destruction in Greenfield, Iowa after a Tuesday, May 21 tornado. (Maxar Technologies via AP) Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies

Excessive heat, especially for May, was the danger in South Texas, where the heat index was forecast to approach 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius) in some spots during the weekend. Actual temperatures will be lower, although still in triple-digit territory, but the humidity will make it feel that much hotter.

The region is on the north end of a heat dome stretching from Mexico to South America, National Weather Service meteorologist Zack Taylor said.

Sunday looks like the hottest day with record highs for late May forecast for Austin, Brownsville, Dallas and San Antonio, Taylor said.

Severe storm clouds move along Interstate 80 at the northwest edge of Davenport, Iowa on Friday, May 24, 2024. Several tornadoes were reported in Iowa and Illinois as storms downed power lines and trees on Friday, just after a deadly twister devastated one small town.(Roy Dabner/Quad City Times via AP)

Brownsville and Harlingen near the Texas-Mexico border already set new records Saturday for the May 25 calendar date — 99 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius) and 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), respectively — according to the weather service.

April and May have been a busy month for tornadoes, especially in the Midwest. Iowa was hit hard last week, when a deadly twister devastated Greenfield. And other storms brought flooding and wind damage elsewhere in the state.

High winds associated with the morning severe weather overturned this semi-trailer on Interstate 280 west of Davenport, Iowa on Friday, May 24, 2024. Several tornadoes were reported in Iowa and Illinois as storms downed power lines and trees on Friday, just after a deadly twister devastated one small town.(Roy Dabner/Quad City Times via AP)

The storm system causing the severe weather was expected to move east as the Memorial Day weekend continues, bringing rain that could delay the Indianapolis 500 auto race Sunday in Indiana and more severe storms in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky.

The risk of severe weather moves into North Carolina and Virginia on Monday, forecasters said.

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