US storms kill at least 21 across 4 states on Memorial Day weekend
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[May 28, 2024]
By Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) -Tornado-spawning thunderstorms that swept the Southern Plains
and the Ozark Mountains have killed at least 21 people across four U.S.
states as of Monday afternoon and wrecked hundreds of buildings, as
forecasters warned of more severe weather.
The death toll over the three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend included
at least eight fatalities in Arkansas, seven in Texas, four in Kentucky
and two in Oklahoma, according to tallies by state emergency
authorities.
A severe thunderstorm watch was issued for parts of New Jersey, New York
and Pennsylvania until Monday evening, the National Weather Service
said. The watch was in effect for more than 30 million people in the
Northeast, as the storms were expected to move to that part of the East
Coast.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency early on
Monday. The weather service issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the
Atlanta area and other parts of Georgia and for several western South
Carolina counties until at least Monday afternoon.
"It was a tough night for our people," Beshear posted on social media
platform X on Monday. He later said in a press briefing that devastating
storms had hit almost the entire state. The storms damaged 100 state
highways and roads, officials said.
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At least seven people perished - including a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old
from a family - and nearly 100 were injured on Saturday night when a
powerful tornado struck communities in North Texas near the Oklahoma
border, Governor Greg Abbott told a Sunday news conference.
Late on Sunday, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at least
eight people died in her state after the storms. An Arkansan suffering
from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease died due to a lack of oxygen
when the power went out.
President Joe Biden offered condolences for the lives lost when he spoke
on Monday with Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and Governors Abbott and
Sanders, the White House said.
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Wreckage is strewn across a property the day after a deadly series
of tornados hit the central United States, in Valley View, Texas,
U.S. in a still image from aerial video. ABC Affiliate WFAA via
REUTERS
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency was on the ground conducting
damage assessments with state and local counterparts, the White
House said, adding that Biden had directed federal agencies to
provide support as needed.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans were without power on Monday due
to the weather, according to the PowerOutage.US tracking website. In
Kentucky alone, more than 160,000 customers lacked electricity.
In some areas, restoring power could take days, Kentucky Governor
Beshear said in a news briefing.
The weather service warned that additional storms would move through
the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, bringing damaging winds, large hail
and more tornadoes, as well as heavy downpours capable of triggering
flash floods.
The latest extreme weather came just days after a powerful tornado
ripped through an Iowa town, killing four people, and more twisters
touched down in Texas last week.
The U.S. is preparing for what government forecasters have called a
potentially "extraordinary" 2024 Atlantic hurricane season beginning
next Saturday.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh; Additional reporting by Surbhi Misra,
Jarrett Renshaw and Jasper Ward; Editing by Diane Craft, Rod Nickel
and Jonathan Oatis)
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