Storm: More than 12 dead in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas

VALLEY VIEW, Texas (AP) — Violent storms killed at least 14 people and left a wide trail of destruction in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas on Sunday, destroying homes and a rest area where dozens of people had 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, authorities said. Two people were also killed and homes destroyed in Oklahoma, including guests at an outdoor wedding. Tens of thousands of residents across the region were without power.

“All that’s left is a trail of rubble. The devastation is pretty bad,” Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington told the Associated Press.

Among the dead were two children, aged two and five, said the sheriff. The small community of Valley View in the Texas county is one of the worst affected areas. Three family members were found dead in a house, said Sappington.

Hugo Parra, who lives in Farmers Branch, north of Dallas, said he rode out the storm with 40 to 50 people in the rest area’s bathroom near Valley View. The storm ripped off the building’s roof and walls, damaged metal beams and left battered cars in the parking lot.

“A firefighter came to check on us and said, ‘You were very lucky,'” Parra said. “The best way to describe it is: The wind was trying to blow us out of the bathrooms.”

Several people were taken by ambulance and helicopter to hospitals in Denton County, Texas, also north of Dallas. However, officials did not initially know the exact extent of their injuries.

At least five people were killed in Arkansas, 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, said several other people were injured and emergency crews were continuing to respond to calls.

“We are currently still busy with search and rescue,” she said. “The situation is very hectic.”

Two others died in Marion County, Arkansas.

Authorities also confirmed two deaths in Mayes County, Oklahoma. Further details on the deaths were not immediately available, said Mike Dunham, deputy director of emergency management for the county.

A deadly series of storms

The destruction continued a grim month of deadly storms in the center of the country.

Tornadoes in Iowa this week left at least five dead and dozens of injuries. The deadly hurricanes occurred during a historically bad tornado season, at a time when Climate change contributes to the severity of storms around the world. In April, there was the second highest number of tornadoes on record in the country.

Meteorologists and authorities had issued urgent warnings to seek shelter as the storms moved through the region overnight. “If you are in the path of this storm, seek shelter immediately!” the National Weather Service office in Norman, Oklahoma, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

DESTROYED HOUSES, BLOCKED ROADS

At daybreak the full extent of the devastation became clear.

On Sunday, residents woke up to see overturned cars and collapsed garages. Some residents walked back and forth, assessing the damage. Nearby, neighbors sat on the foundation of a destroyed house.

In Valley View, near the rest stop, the storms ripped roofs off homes and blew out windows. Clothing, insulation, plastic and other debris were wrapped around the miles of barbed wire fence that surrounds pastureland in the rural area.

More than 100,000 homes in Arkansas were without power on Sunday. In neighboring Missouri, more than 100,000 homes were also without power along the southern border. Texas reported 57,000 outages and Oklahoma 7,400, according to the tracking website. Power outage.us.