Tornado warnings were still active in several locations.
Washington:
At least nine people died in the central United States when tornadoes and other extreme storms struck several states, including Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma, authorities said Sunday.
Rescue efforts were underway and hundreds of thousands of people were left without power after storms hit the Southern Plains region early Saturday evening.
In Texas, Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington told ABC affiliate WFAA that five people were killed after a tornado hit the Valley View area north of Dallas.
“Unfortunately, I think that number will increase,” Sappington told The Weather Channel, adding that search and rescue operations were ongoing.
The tornado destroyed homes and a gas station and overturned vehicles on an interstate highway. Sappington called the damage “quite extensive.”
There were “a lot” of injuries, although none were life-threatening, he previously told ABC affiliate WFAA.
In Oklahoma, at least two people died after a tornado ripped through Mayes County on Saturday night, county emergency management chief Johnny Janzen told Tulsa’s Fox News affiliate.
And in northern Arkansas, two people died in storms in the early hours of Sunday, local authorities confirmed.
In far northern Indiana, the start of the Indianapolis 500 was postponed on Sunday due to thunderstorms in the area, with fans asked to leave the stands and seek shelter.
A crowd of 125,000 people was expected for the race, one of the most iconic automobile races in America.
As the storm system moved across the country, about 470,000 people were left without power in states stretching from Texas to Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, according to the website Poweroutage.us.
Tornado warnings were still active in several locations.
(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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