Tornado-spawning storms leave damage in Texas and Oklahoma as Memorial Day weekend’s severe weather threat shifts east

Tornado-spawning storms leave damage in Texas and Oklahoma as Memorial Day weekend’s severe weather threat shifts east

Tornado-spawning storms tearing across parts of the Central United States caused injuries, damaged homes, left thousands in the dark and fueled calls to seek shelter overnight in North Texas and Oklahoma as severe weather continues to disrupt Memorial Day weekend.

More than 110 million people across broad swaths of the US are under threat of large hail, damaging winds and a fierce twisters Sunday, mainly throughout the mid-Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee River valleys.

Storms are now moving east into the Mississippi Valley through Sunday morning, with the Storm Prediction Center warning of “violent tornadoes, extreme hail and corridors of widespread wind damage.”

The severe weather has already wreaked havoc in parts of Texas.

In north Denton County, Texas, a possible tornado injured an unknown number of people, damaged several homes, overturned 18-wheelers, downed trees and knocked out power lines on Saturday night, authorities said early Sunday. Deputies responded to multiple locations, including “homes and RV trailer parks,” Dawn Cobb, a county spokesperson, said in a news release.

A suspected tornado hit a Shell truck stop north of the Denton County Saturday night, causing severe damage and trapping people, Cobb said. Others were also reported injured in the impacted area.

“Multiple victims” were reported in Ray Roberts after severe weather struck the area overnight, City of Denton fire officials said, adding medics and other resources have been sent to the scene.

Damage to several homes was also reported in the neighboring city of Celina, where officials said city was impacted by “apparent tornadic activity” on Saturday.

City of Denton Fire Department shared a photo early Sunday of a badly damaged building following severe weather in the area.

City of Denton Fire Department shared a photo early Sunday of a badly damaged building following severe weather in the area. City of Denton Fire Department

The National Weather Service office in Fort Worth issued several tornado warnings for multiple North Texas cities late Saturday night, telling residents to seek shelter immediately as a tornado was seen heading east between Valley View and Sanger around 10:40 p.m.

Across state lines, damage was also reported throughout Rogers County, Oklahoma, after a possible tornado swept the area, downing power lines and trees and damaging homes. In the city of Claremore, officials said there was “a lot of damage” and that electricity will be out for much of the city “for an extended period of time.”

As the stormy weather battered the region, more than 250,000 homes and businesses throughout the Plains and Missouri were without power early Sunday, including over 93,000 customers In Missouri, around 48,000 in Kansas, more than 34,000 in Texas and 24,000 in Oklahoma, according to poweroutage.us.

Storms that developed overnight in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri are now moving east toward the lower Ohio River Valley, triggering a new tornado watch for parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee until 10 a.m. CT, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

Northwest Arkansas, Eastern Kansas, Western Missouri and Northeast Oklahoma are also still under tornado watch until 5 a.m. CT.

There’s a level 3 of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms over parts of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys into Monday morning, and EF2 to EF5 tornadoes and wind gusts of 74 mph are possible, according to the Storm Prediction Center. A level 4 of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms also exists in parts of the Central and Southern Plains through Sunday morning.