OKLAHOMA CITY — Severe storms in Texas and Oklahoma destroyed homes and pummeled a highway travel hub where drivers ran for shelter, leaving thousands without power and a wide trail of damage Sunday. A sheriff said at least five people were killed in a rural Texas community and many others were injured.
The destructive storms began Saturday night and included a tornado that toppled heavy recreational vehicles and closed an interstate highway near Dallas. Authorities said several people were transported to hospitals by ambulance and helicopter in Denton County, Texas, but they did not immediately know the full extent of injuries.
In neighboring Cooke County, Sheriff Ray Sappington told the Associated Press that the five dead included three family members who were found in a home near Valley View, a rural community near the Oklahoma border.
“We have five confirmed (deaths), but unfortunately we think that number is likely to increase,” Sappington said. “There’s nothing left of this house. Only a trail of debris remains. The devastation is quite severe.”
Forecasters 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.
The destruction continued a grim month of severe and deadly weather across the U.S.
Tornadoes in Iowa this week left at least five dead and dozens injured. The deadly tornadoes emerged during the country’s historically bad season for tornadoes, at a time when climate change is increasing the severity of storms around the world. April had the second highest number of tornadoes ever recorded in the country.
On Saturday night, a tornado touched down in northern Denton County, Texas, and overturned tractor-trailer trucks, stopping traffic on Interstate 35, Dawn Cobb, director of community relations for Denton County, said in a statement.
The tornado was confirmed near Valley View, moving east at 40 mph, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a tornado warning for northern Denton County, Cobb said.
The storm damaged homes, toppled motorhomes and downed power lines and trees throughout the area, including spots in Sanger, Pilot Point, Ray Roberts Lake and Isle du Bois State Park, Cobb said.
People who suffered injuries in the storm were transported to local 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.”
Police in Claremore, Oklahoma, announced on social media that the town about 28 miles (45 kilometers) east of Tulsa was “closed” as a result of damage caused by the storm, including downed power lines and trees and roads. inaccessible.
Early Saturday evening, the National Weather Service office in Norman, Oklahoma, said via social platform X that the warning was for northern Noble and southernmost Kay counties, an area located in northern Oklahoma. City. “If you are in the path of this storm, take cover now!” he said.
A follow-up post at 10:05 p.m. said the storms had moved out of the area but warned of a storm moving through north Texas that could affect parts of south-central Oklahoma.
At 10:24 p.m., the Fort Worth weather office posted a message warning Era and Valley View residents that they were in the direct path of a possible tornado and to seek shelter immediately. The Forth Worth office continued to post advisories and shelter-in-place advisories tracking the storm’s movement until midnight and separately issued a severe thunderstorm watch with possible “golf ball-sized hail.”
The weather service office in Tulsa, Oklahoma, warned at
Excessive heat, especially in May, was the danger in South Texas, where the heat index was forecast to approach 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) in some spots over the weekend. Actual temperatures will be lower, although still in triple-digit territory, but the humidity will make it feel much warmer.
The region is at the northern end of a heat dome that stretches from Mexico to South America, said National Weather Service meteorologist Zack Taylor.
Sunday looks like the hottest day, with record highs forecast for late May in Austin, Brownsville, Dallas and San Antonio, Taylor said.
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 were busy months for tornadoes, especially in the Midwest. Iowa was hit hard last week when a deadly tornado devastated Greenfield. And other storms brought flooding and wind damage to other parts of the state.
The storm system causing the severe weather is expected to move east as the Memorial Day weekend continues, bringing rain that could delay Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 auto race in Indiana and more thunderstorms. severe in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky.
The risk of severe weather hits North Carolina and Virginia on Monday, forecasters said.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
