14 dead from tornadoes in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas

A tornado was spotted Saturday night in the area near Valley View, Texas, about 60 miles northeast of downtown Dallas, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. Meteorologists had previously warned that the region near the Texas-Oklahoma border was likely to be hit by severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and golf ball-sized hail.

The storms also hit a travel center on a highway where authorities said travelers had sought shelter. Television footage showed police cars and ambulances gathered near a gas station, reduced to twisted metal. Cars and trucks with blown-out windows could be seen among the rubble.

The destructive weather also left tens of thousands of people without power. As of Sunday afternoon, more than 51,000 people were without power in Texas, 86,000 in Arkansas and at least 5,000 in Oklahoma, according to tracking website poweroutage.us.

The outages occurred as temperatures in parts of the region rose to nearly 38 degrees Celsius on Sunday, with the high temperatures forecast to continue on Monday.

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