Storms kill 15 in southern plains as severe weather moves east
Powerful storms and possible tornadoes pummeled parts of Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Arkansas on Saturday night, killing at least 15 people, damaging homes and leaving hundreds of thousands without power.
The severe weather, including the threat of tornadoes, was moving east Sunday. More than 6 million people were under a tornado watch through Sunday afternoon, including parts of Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. More than 18 million people were in a wider area with an “enhanced” risk of severe weather.
In northern Texas on Saturday, a tornado left at least seven dead — including two children ages 2 and 5 — and close to 100 people injured, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said at a news briefing Sunday evening.
Three of those people were trapped in debris at a home, officials said. Another person died after his home was blown away.
The storm destroyed 200 structures or homes and damaged about 120 more, Abbott said.
In Oklahoma, two people were killed in the city of Pryor, northeast of Tulsa, as a result of overnight storms, the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said Sunday.
In Arkansas, one person died in Benton County and multiple people were injured, according to local authorities, who said in a briefing Sunday that the area had likely been hit by tornadoes.
A woman died in a house in Boone County, Arkansas, according to city officials in Harrison, Arkansas. A 73-year-old woman was found dead yards from where her mobile home had stood in Baxter County, Arkansas, the sheriff’s office said on Facebook. Two people were killed in Marion County, according to the sheriff’s office there.
The storm also left one person dead in Louisville, Kentucky, Mayor Craig Greenberg of Louisville said on social media.
At Lake Ray Roberts Marina in Denton County, Texas, north of Dallas, a tornado damaged boats, boat houses and a fuel dock, and overturned several recreational vehicles Saturday.
“There is so much damage, we don’t even know where to start,” the marina said on Facebook Sunday, noting there were no serious injuries.
The United States has come under an onslaught of destructive storms in the past week, with at least a few reports of tornadoes each day.
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