Tornadoes sweep through Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas; at least 15 dead

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

Among the dead were two children, ages two and five, and three members of a family, the sheriff said.

A tornado destroyed homes and businesses, overturned mobile homes, and downed trees and power lines. Areas near the community of Valley View were particularly hard hit.

Sappington said 60 to 80 people were injured at a rest area called the AP Travel Center on Interstate 35. Many rushed there to seek shelter.

Further south in neighboring Denton County, closer to Dallas, semi-trailers were overturned. Several people were taken to hospitals, some by helicopter. However, the exact extent of their injuries was initially unclear.

According to a power outage website, more than 470,000 people were without power in states from Texas to Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Hugo Parra, who lives in Farmers Branch, north of Dallas, said he rode out the storm in a gas station bathroom with about 40 to 50 people.

“A fireman came to check on us and said, ‘You were very lucky,’” Mr Parra told the Related Press. “The best way to describe it is that the wind tried to tear us out of the bathrooms.”

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.

Two people died in Oklahoma, Michael Dunham, deputy director of Mayes County Emergency Management, confirmed to weather.com. Dunham said search and rescue efforts are continuing, with teams going house-to-house.

Major damage was reported in Claremore, where 23 people were injured. Nineteen of those victims were taken to local hospitals, three of them with life-threatening injuries. The town was closed to traffic until Sunday noon, except for residents with ID.

According to a social media statement from Governor Andy Beshear, at least one death has been confirmed in Kentucky.