22 people died in the USA after tornadoes over the weekend. More storms could be on the way | WDHN

BRUCE SCHREINER and JULIO CORTEZ, Associated Press

19 mins ago

A man looks at a damaged car after a tornado struck the previous day, Sunday, May 26, 2024, in Valley View, Texas. Violent storms left a wide trail of destruction in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas on Sunday after destroying homes and destroying a rest area where drivers sought shelter during the latest deadly weather in the central U.S. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

A possible tornado damaged a school and several homes in Pennsylvania, the latest in a series of severe storms that swept across much of the United States over the Memorial Day weekend, killing at least 22 people.

No injuries were reported, but roof damage occurred at the high school and about six homes in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, Monday night, said David Truskowsky, spokesman for the city’s fire department. Classes in the district were canceled Tuesday.

The city is located about 70 miles northeast of Harrisburg, the state capital.

The National Weather Service, which had issued a tornado warning for the region, was scheduled to assess the storm damage on Tuesday morning. Images of funnel clouds were shared on social media.

Before reaching Pennsylvania, destructive storms claimed lives in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky and occurred just north of a sweltering early-season heat wave that set records from South Texas to Florida.

The death toll of 22 includes seven deaths in Cooke County, Texas, from a tornado that swept through a mobile home park on Saturday, and eight deaths across Arkansas.

Two people died in Mayes County, Oklahoma, east of Tulsa, authorities said. Among the injured were guests at an outdoor wedding.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who had previously declared a state of emergency, said at a press conference on Monday that five people had died in his state.

More than 200,000 homes and businesses were without power in Kentucky, Texas, Arkansas, West Virginia and Missouri on Tuesday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.

Meteorologists warned of the risk of severe thunderstorms in Texas and Oklahoma on Tuesday, which could bring damaging winds, heavy hail and flash floods.

It was a gloomy month full of tornadoes and severe weather in the middle of the country.

Tornadoes in Iowa killed at least five people and injured dozens more last week. Eight people were killed in Houston this month. April saw the second-highest number of tornadoes in the U.S. on record. The storms come at a time when climate change is generally contributing to the severity of storms around the world.

Harold Brooks, a senior scientist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma, said a persistent pattern of warm, moist air is responsible for the series of tornadoes over the past two months.

This air is located on the northern edge of a heat dome and brings temperatures that normally occur from mid-summer to the end of May.

The heat index – a combination of air temperature and humidity that indicates how heat feels to the human body – reached nearly triple digits in parts of South Texas on Monday. Extreme heat was also forecast for San Antonio and Dallas.

In Florida, Melbourne and Fort Pierce set new daily records on Monday, both reaching 98 degrees (36.7 degrees Celsius). Miami recorded a record high of 96 degrees (35.5 degrees Celsius) on Sunday.

For more information on current tornado reports, visit the Associated Press Tornado Tracker.

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Associated Press journalists Sarah Brumfield, Kathy McCormack, Acacia Coronado and Jeffrey Collins contributed to this report.