Severe storms, including multiple tornadoes, wreaked havoc across five states over the weekend, leaving at least 18 people dead and causing widespread destruction. The states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas bore the brunt of the storms, with Texas reporting the highest number of fatalities. In a press conference on Sunday evening, Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed seven deaths and over 100 injuries as the severe weather swept through the state. Abbott declared 106 counties disaster areas, with more than 200 homes or structures destroyed and another 120 damaged. Among the fatalities in Texas were two children, a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old from the same family, who perished in Cooke County, north of Dallas. The tornado that struck Cooke County was preliminarily rated as an EF-2 with winds up to 135 mph, tearing through a roadside travel center near Valley View before continuing through a community of manufactured homes. The storm caused significant damage, including the destruction of the Gateway AP Travel Center in Valley View, where many people sought shelter but still suffered injuries. Emergency responders worked tirelessly on Sunday morning to search for survivors and clear debris, with Sheriff Ray Sappington urging the public to stay away from storm-damaged areas.
Meanwhile, in Arkansas, authorities confirmed at least two fatalities from a possible tornado that struck early Sunday morning. One person was found dead in Benton County, while a 26-year-old woman was discovered deceased outside her destroyed home in Olvey, Boone County. Benton County Judge Barry Moehring reported numerous injuries and significant damage from at least one possible tornado that ripped through the town of Decatur. Trees and power lines were downed, and powerful straight-line winds caused substantial damage in Bentonville, where part of the courthouse was destroyed. Emergency crews responded to reports of people trapped in the rubble.
The severe weather threat shifted eastward on Sunday, with multiple rounds of strong storms possible over parts of the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. The National Weather Service issued tornado watches for central Kentucky, including Louisville and Bowling Green, and western and middle Tennessee, including Nashville and Knoxville, until 3 p.m. CT. Residents in the Great Plains faced another round of severe storms on Sunday night, with the most intense storms expected in parts of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, northern Tennessee, and southwestern Ohio, where the risk of damaging winds, hail, and tornadoes remained elevated. In addition, potentially dangerous flash flooding was forecast from southern Missouri to much of Kentucky, with strong, slow-moving thunderstorms bringing torrential rain and the threat of flooding to several states, including Illinois, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
