In Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas, severe storms over the weekend led to at least 18 deaths, according to the Associated Press and Arkansas state officials.
According to officials, at least 25 cyclones were reported in five states.
Texas was hit hard
Seven people died and more than 100 were injured in Texas due to severe weather, Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news conference Sunday evening.
Abbott said 106 counties in Texas are under disaster declarations.
More than 200 homes or structures were destroyed, and another 120 were damaged, Texas officials said.
Video shows Cook County residents sheltering in a Shell gas station as the tornado hit the area Saturday night. Dallas-Fort Worth ABC affiliate WFAA. The tornado begins to tear through the building, leaving residents scrambling for safety.
No one was killed inside the gas station, according to WFAA.
Abbott, who mourned those who died in the storm, said, “There’s only one thing that can’t be rebuilt, and that’s the loss of life — that’s why we always urge everyone, in any kind of storm, to put life first. .”
A 2-year-old and a 5-year-old child from the same family were killed in Cook County, Texas, authorities said. The Cook County Sheriff’s Office said children were among the seven people killed in the area north of Dallas. AP On Sunday.
The tornado that struck Cook County was initially rated an EF-2 with sustained winds of 135 mph.
According to Cook County Sheriff Ray Sappington, the storm tore through a road trip center near Valley View, Texas.
He said more than 60 people were injured WFAA.
According to Sappington, most of those deaths occurred at the nearby FRF estates in Valley View, a community of manufactured homes about 60 miles northwest of Dallas.
He said emergency response teams were combing the development for survivors amid “massive damage” on Sunday morning.
Sappington said many people drove off the road to seek shelter in the parking lot of the Gateway AB Travel Center in Valley View or in a truck stop restroom. Sappington said 60 to 80 people were injured at the facility.
“The storm caused significant damage to numerous homes and businesses, including the Gateway AB Travel Center, which sustained extensive damage,” the Cook County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Sunday morning. “Emergency services are actively searching the debris for missing people and a number of injuries of varying degrees have been reported.”
Sappington warned people to stay away from storm-damaged areas as emergency crews searched for survivors and cleared roads of debris.
“It would really help if people were away now and give our search and rescue a few hours,” Sappington said. “I know some people are trying to get out of the area and come back, but it’s dangerous. Power lines are down. There are reports of gas leaks. It’s dangerous right now. Give us some time to do what we have to do. We’re still trying to save people, the best thing people can do right now. Give us some time.
Meanwhile, a landslide closed both directions of Highway 340 in Bella Vista, Texas, according to the Bella Vista Police Department. The highway was closed due to heavy rains that washed away the ground beneath the road and “compromised the road surface,” police said.
Authorities say two people have been killed in Arkansas
At least two people were killed when the tornado struck early Sunday, Arkansas officials said. A man was found dead in Benton County, in the northwestern part of the state, and a 26-year-old woman was found dead outside a destroyed home in Olvie, Boone County, authorities said.
In addition to the two deaths, several others were injured in Benton County, Benton County Judge Barry Mohring said during a news conference.
At least one potential tornado tore through the Benton County city of Decatur, and two touched down near Beaver Lake, Mohring said.
Numerous trees and power lines were downed in the storm and powerful straight-line winds caused significant damage in Bentonville, where part of a courthouse was destroyed, Mohring said.
He said emergency crews were responding to reports of people trapped in the rubble.
Police in Rogers, Arkansas, in Benton County, posted photos on Facebook Sunday showing widespread damage in the city of Rogers. The Rogers Police Department said emergency crews were searching for survivors and assessing the damage.
“All of our major streets are down or closed and we are still responding and trying to get calls. Too many cars on the streets are preventing our response,” the Rogers Police Department said in a Facebook post asking people not to drive around the barricades. .
2 deaths in Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner told the Tulsa ABC affiliate that at least two people were killed when the tornado struck Briar, Oklahoma, about 45 miles east of Tulsa. KTUL.
