At least 8 people have died after tornado-triggering storms hit central USA over Memorial Day weekend

CNN
—

At least eight people, including children, have died after suspected tornadoes hit the central United States overnight as severe storms caused power outages and forced residents to shelter at home over the Memorial Day weekend.

Meanwhile, more than 110 million people across much of the United States are at risk of heavy hail, damaging winds and severe tornadoes on Sunday, especially in the middle Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee River valleys. As the storms move east, the Storm Prediction Center warned of “violent tornadoes, extreme hail and corridors of widespread wind damage.”

The start of the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 was postponed and pre-race festivities were suspended on Sunday afternoon as fans were asked to leave the grandstands due to extreme weather conditions.

Five deaths have been reported in Cooke County, Texas, including three in one household, Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington told CNN Sunday morning. Two children in the area were reported missing and are still missing as of Sunday morning.

Another person was killed in Benton County, Arkansas, the county’s public safety official told CNN.

In northeastern Oklahoma, two people were killed and at least 23 injured as a result of severe storms overnight, local authorities told CNN.

After severe storms raged through northeast Oklahoma Saturday night, 23 people were injured, substations failed and the city of Claremore’s gas service was disrupted, Claremore City Manager John Feary said.

Nineteen of the injured were taken to hospitals, three with potentially critical or life-threatening injuries, Feary said.

At a Shell gas station in northeast Texas, 60 to 80 people were trapped until the storm passed, Sappington said. Several injuries were reported at the station, but no one was in critical condition, he added.

Many vehicles were damaged and destroyed, leaving about 40 people stranded. They were transported by bus to another gas station in Gainesville, where they were picked up by family members.

In northern Denton County, Texas, an unknown number of people were injured, several homes were damaged, semi-trailers were overturned, trees were downed and power lines were downed by a possible tornado on Saturday night, authorities said early Sunday. Officials were deployed to several locations, including “homes and mobile home parks,” said Dawn Cobb, a spokeswoman for the county, in a press release.

“Multiple casualties” were reported in Ray Roberts after severe weather hit the area overnight, Denton Fire Department officials said, adding that paramedics and other emergency personnel were dispatched to the scene.

Damage to several houses was also reported in the neighboring town of Celina. According to authorities, the town was “obviously affected by tornado activity” on Saturday.

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

At the Lake Ray Roberts Marina in the town of Sanger in Denton County, boats, boathouses and the gas station were damaged by the storm on Saturday evening. Despite reports of rescues of people trapped in overturned mobile homes, there are no reports of serious injuries.

“The damage is so great, we don’t even know where to start,” said a Facebook post from the marina on Sunday morning.

“We know the boathouses are badly damaged, all have lost walkways and most boats are damaged,” the post said. “We have lost our fuel dock and offices as well as our dock catamaran Ginger.”

In Bentonville, Arkansas, emergency crews are working to respond to power outages and medical calls, said Mayor Stephanie Orman.

“We have emergency crews all over the city. Power lines are down – about 10,000 people are probably without power. Trees are across the streets, we’re asking people to stay off the streets while we try to clear those road systems. Signals are down as well,” Orman said. “We’ve had over 20 emergency calls and those are currently being processed.”

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

Nearly 400,000 customers in six states were without power as of Sunday afternoon, according to tracking website poweroutage.us, including more than 100,000 outages in Missouri and Arkansas.

Storms that formed overnight in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri are now moving east toward the lower Ohio River Valley, triggering a new tornado warning 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 under tornado warnings until 5 a.m. CT.

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

Severe thunderstorms will continue to affect parts of the Mississippi Valley through Sunday morning before gradually weakening, but a new wave of destructive storms is expected soon after.

Thunderstorms will develop across parts of the Midwest by Sunday afternoon, spreading further south and east through the evening and overnight. Strong storms could eventually spread from the Great Lakes to the south on Sunday evening.

On Monday, storms will move toward the East Coast, bringing destructive gusts and large hail from Washington DC to the southeast.

The travel hubs of Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Nashville could face damaging storms that could lead to flight delays or cancellations.

The potential for heavy rain in parts of the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, the middle Mississippi valley and the central Appalachians This has resulted in a slight risk of excessive rainfall (level 2 of 4) in these regions until Monday morning.

Cities such as Louisville, Kentucky; Cincinnati; St. Louis; Nashville, Tennessee; and Indianapolis are among those assigned to Threat Level 3. It is possible that the severe weather could affect the Indianapolis 500 race scheduled for noon ET Sunday.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis forecast showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 4 p.m. ET in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, with an 80% chance of precipitation and gusts up to 25 mph.

The last time rain shortened the Indy 500 race was in 2007 after 166 laps, according to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The unofficial start of summer also brings with it oppressive heat, which may reach record temperatures in parts of the United States on Monday.

Houston, New Orleans, Miami, Mobile, Alabama, Tampa, Florida and Charleston, South Carolina are among the places where the warm weather will feel more like July than late May by the holiday weekend.

A subtropical high over Mexico will trigger extreme heat advisories and heat warnings over South Texas through Monday, according to the Storm Prediction Center. “The ridge will trigger a dangerous early-season heat wave over South Texas and South Florida,” the center said.

The Storm Prediction Center noted that daytime highs and a heat index of over 115 were possible in some areas.

Anyone who is outdoors or experiencing a power outage should drink plenty of fluids, wear light clothing and visit cooling centers if necessary.

CNN meteorologist Elisa Raffa and CNN staffers Jillian Sykes, Joe Sutton and Chris Boyette contributed to this report.