Tornado threat eases but will resume next week across U.S. Plains states

[May 29, 2019]  By Rich McKay

(Reuters) - The tornadoes and heavy rains sweeping across the United States from the southern Plains into New Jersey will ease by late Thursday but resume early next week, forecasters said.

Rain, hail, thunderstorms and the threat of tornadoes will return from east Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and on into Illinois and parts of the East Coast, David Roth, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, said early on Wednesday.

"You can't catch a break," Roth said. "Or at least not for long. It'll clear up Friday, Saturday and Sunday."

Several tornadoes reportedly touched down on Tuesday evening in Kansas, damaging homes, uprooting trees and ripping down power lines, NWS said.

About a dozen people were reported injured in Douglas County, Kansas, according to the sheriff's Office. The extent of the injuries was not yet known.

The latest wave of tornadoes came a day after twisters pulverized buildings in western Ohio, killing one person, injuring scores and triggering a recovery effort in neighborhoods strewn with wreckage.

Late Tuesday, about 20 tornadoes, including a large rain-wrapped twister near Kansas City, were reported to the NWS by storm chasers and spotters. News broadcasts showed roofs torn off homes and roads scattered with debris and tree limbs.

The NWS will send out survey teams early Wednesday to assess the damage and determine the strength of the storms, an official at the NWS in Topeka, Kansas, said.

Kansas City International Airport said on Twitter travelers found shelter in parking garages as the storms passed the airfield Tuesday night. The airport later said it was closed as crews cleared debris.

A storm cloud is seen in Shawnee, Kansas, U.S. in this still image taken from a May 28, 2019 video obtained from social media. Daniel Hogue/via REUTERS

More than 300 tornadoes have torn through the Midwest in the last two weeks. The latest storms follow tornadoes and floods that killed at least three people in Missouri and six people in Oklahoma the week before, including two in El Reno on Saturday.

Two tornadoes also struck late on Monday near Dayton, including one just south of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Ohio Department of Transportation crews used snow plows to clear highways of debris.

Nearly 80 people in and around Dayton went to hospitals with injuries, said Elizabeth Long, a spokeswoman for the Kettering Health Network.

"We've had injuries ranging from lacerations to bumps and bruises from folks being thrown around in their houses," Long said.

Rainfall could trigger flash flooding on Tuesday evening in parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa, said Brian Hurley, a senior NWS meteorologist.

(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta, Kyle Grillot in Brookline, Ohio; Jonathan Allen and Peter Szekely in New York, Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles and Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; editing by Larry King)

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