Severe storms devastate Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma, killing at least 15 people

Violent storms killed at least 15 people and left a wide trail of destruction in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas on Sunday, destroying homes and a rest area where dozens sought shelter in a bathroom during the latest deadly storm to hit the central United States.

Seven deaths were reported in Cooke County, Texas, near the Oklahoma border, where a tornado ripped through a rural area near a mobile home park Saturday night, officials said. Storms also killed two people and destroyed homes in Oklahoma, where guests at an outdoor wedding were among the injured.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said at a news conference Sunday that about 100 people were injured by Saturday’s tornado, but noted that the exact number was “difficult to determine with certainty.” More than 200 homes and other buildings were destroyed and over 100 others were damaged, Abbott said. “I would be shocked if those numbers didn’t rise,” the governor added.

Tens of thousands of residents throughout the region were without electricity.

Late Saturday night, the storms spawned a tornado that overturned vehicles and closed a stretch of interstate in the Dallas area. Officials said several people were taken by ambulance and helicopter to hospitals in Denton County, but the extent of their injuries was not immediately clear.

In nearby Cooke County, Sheriff Ray Sappington told CBS News that authorities had confirmed five deaths due to the extreme weather by Sunday morning. Authorities later raised the death toll in Cooke County to seven. Among the dead were two children, ages 2 and 5, the sheriff told the Associated Press. Abbott said those children were part of the same family.

“When they woke up yesterday, they had no idea that the family would literally be crushed by this terrible storm,” Abbott said of the family.

The sheriff had previously told the AP that three family members were among the five found in a home near Valley View, a rural community near the Oklahoma border. Valley View is about an hour’s drive north of Dallas.

Parts of Cooke County were devastated by the storms, Sappington told CBS News. He said the death toll was likely to rise as search and rescue operations were underway for some people who were still missing Sunday morning.

“All that’s left is a trail of debris. The devastation is pretty bad,” Sappington said in a statement to AP. Valley View Police Chief Justin Stamps told CBS News on Sunday that the death toll in that community could be as high as six.

“I’m not sure how many there are, but the last estimate was possibly 5-6,” Stamps said. “Daylight will tell what we’re dealing with in full here.”

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said in a social media post that the state’s emergency units have been activated to respond to the tornado.

“Please pray for these families. Their loss is unfathomable,” he said. “Jan and I pray for the first responders, the families in all affected areas and the victims who tragically lost their lives.”

In Arkansas, at least five people were reportedly killed, including a 26-year-old woman who was found dead outside a destroyed home in Olvey, a small community in Boone County, according to Daniel Bolen of the county’s emergency management office.

Another person died in Benton County, Arkansas. Melody Kwok, communications director for the county, told AP that several other people were injured and that emergency crews were still responding to 911 calls.

Details of the two deaths in Mayes County, Oklahoma, were not immediately available, said Mike Dunham, deputy director of emergency management for the county.

Isolated severe storms hit Oklahoma and meteorologists issued a tornado warning for some parts of the state Saturday night, while some heat records were broken in South Texas throughout the day and people were warned of triple-digit temperatures over the long holiday weekend.

The National Weather Service office in Norman said via X that the warning applies to northern Noble County and extreme southern Kay County, an area north of Oklahoma City.

“If you are in the path of this storm, take cover immediately!” it said.

The agency had previously compared conditions on Saturday to “a pile of brush soaked in gasoline.” Meteorologists said a storm could form that could bring heavy hail, damaging winds and tornadoes.

“There is a small chance that most of the matches are duds and we’ll only see a few storms today. Still, that’s not a match I want to play with. It only takes one storm to have an impact,” the weather service in Norman, Oklahoma, wrote on Facebook.

In North Texas, Clay County Judge Mike Campbell said in a social media post Saturday night that two homes had lost their roofs and a business had been destroyed by a possible tornado, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.

A spokesman for Sedgwick County in Kansas, which includes Wichita, told CBS News in an email that a storm had knocked down trees and power lines in the region, leaving about 8,000 homes without power.

In Oklahoma, the Woodward County Emergency Management Office confirmed that a tornado touched down southwest of the small town of Mutual. There were reports of minor damage to a home and a mobile home and downed power lines, but no reports of injuries.

South Texas is in for a particularly hot May, with the heat index expected to reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit in some locations over the weekend. Actual temperatures will be lower, but still in the triple digits, but humidity will make it feel much hotter.

Parts of Texas, including Houston, are already battling severe storms and power outages that have affected residents susceptible to high temperatures early May. The region is at the northern end of a heat dome that stretches from Mexico to South America, said meteorologist Zack Taylor of the National Weather Service.

Sunday is expected to be the hottest day, with record temperatures forecast for Austin, Brownsville, Dallas and San Antonio in late May, Taylor said.

According to the National Weather Service, temperatures in Brownsville, on the U.S.-Mexico border, approached 90 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday morning and the heat index was 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

Red Flag fire warnings were also in effect in West Texas, all of New Mexico, and parts of Oklahoma, Arizona, and Colorado. Humidity was very low at less than 10% and wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour were recorded.

“We have very dry air, high temperatures and strong winds that create high fire danger over large areas … which can lead to rapidly spreading or uncontrollable fires,” Taylor said.

Meanwhile, several centimeters of snow fell from Friday to Saturday in Rolla, North Dakota, about 10 miles from the Canadian border.

The Millions of people travel For Memorial Day weekend, there were warnings that wild weather could disrupt travel plans.

There were many tornadoes in April and May, especially in the Midwest. Climate change leads to stronger storms worldwide.

In April, the country second highest number of tornadoes According to the National Weather Service, the United States has already seen 25% more tornadoes than average in 2024, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

Iowa has been the hardest hit so far this week. A deadly tornado devastated Greenfielda city about 55 miles south of the state capital, Des Moines, killing at least five people and injuring dozens more. Other storms brought flooding and storm damage to other parts of the state.

The system that caused the recent storm is expected to move eastward over the remainder of the holiday weekend.

The Indianapolis 500 started four hours late after a severe storm hit the area and forced Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials to evacuate about 125,000 race fans.

More severe storms were forecast in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. A tornado emergency was declared in Kentucky on Sunday evening.

Meteorologists expect the threat of severe weather to move to North Carolina and Virginia on Monday.