(Reuters) – Governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency Monday morning after tornado-spawning storms swept across the U.S. Southern Plains and Ozarks, killing at least 14 people and destroying hundreds of buildings as forecasters warned of more severe weather.
“Severe weather continues to affect the community with multiple reports of wind damage and tornadoes,” Beshear said in an X post.
At least seven people were killed and nearly 100 injured Saturday night when a powerful tornado ripped through communities in North Texas near the Oklahoma border, Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news conference the next day.
On Sunday, as storms moved northeast, triggering more extreme weather in the U.S. heartland, a landscaper was killed by a tree toppled by winds that reached 80 miles per hour in Louisville, Kentucky, police said.
The Weather Service warned of additional storms moving through the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, bringing a mix of damaging winds, large hail and more tornadoes, as well as heavy rains capable of triggering flash flooding.
The latest outbreak of extreme weather came just days after a powerful tornado ripped through a rural Iowa town, killing four people, and more tornadoes hit Texas last week.
(Reporting by Surbhi Misra in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Potter)
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