A series of powerful storms ripped through the central and southern United States over Memorial Day weekend, killing at least 22 people and causing widespread destruction of homes and businesses and power outages.
of Destructive Storm The heat wave was deadly in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky, just north of the early season record heat from South Texas to Florida.
Forecasters said the severe weather could move up the East Coast late Monday and warned millions of people outdoors over the holiday to keep an eye on the skies, with tornado watches issued from North Carolina to Maryland.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who earlier declared a state of emergency, said at a press conference on Monday that five people had died in the state. The fifth fatality was a 54-year-old man who suffered a heart attack while cutting down a fallen tree in Caldwell County in western Kentucky, the governor's office said.
Of the 22 deaths, seven Cook County, Texas Eight people were killed across Arkansas after a tornado struck a mobile home park on Saturday, authorities said.
Authorities said two people were killed in Mayes County, Oklahoma, east of Tulsa, and the injured included guests at an outdoor wedding.
The latest area to have destroyed homes and lost power was the small Kentucky town of Charleston, which was hit Sunday night by a tornado that the governor said may have traveled 40 miles (64 kilometers) above the ground.
“It's a terrible situation,” said Charleston resident Rob Linton, fire chief for nearby Dawson Springs, which was hit by a tornado in 2021. “Trees are down everywhere, houses are shaking, power lines are down. No water, no electricity, nothing.”
Further east, several rural areas in Hopkins County that were hit by 2021 tornadoes around the community of Barnsley were hit again Sunday night, said Nick Bailey, the county's emergency management director.
“There were a lot of people trying to rebuild their lives and then this happened,” Bailey said. “Pretty much the same place, same house, everything.”
Beshear said: His father grew up It has been held many times for ceremonies where people who have lost everything are given the keys to their new homes.
The visit came after a series of tornadoes on a terrifying night in December 2021. 81 people died Kentucky.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Gov. Beshear said of the Memorial Day weekend storm. “Kentuckians are very sensitive to the weather after everything we've been through.”
More than 400,000 customers across the eastern U.S. No Power About 125,000 power outages were reported in Kentucky on Monday afternoon. At least 10,000 outages were reported in 12 states earlier in the day. Power Out.
The area under the highest severe weather watch on Monday is a large swath of the eastern United States from Alabama to New York.
President Joe Biden offered his condolences to the families of those killed and said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was on the ground assessing the damage and was reaching out to state governors to see what kind of assistance they might need from the federal government.
It's been a tough month in the central part of the country, with tornadoes and severe weather continuing.
Last week's tornado hit Iowa At least five people died Dozens of people were injured. Eight people killed in Houston Earlier this month, severe thunderstorms and deadly tornadoes occurred during a historically deadliest season for tornadoes. Climate Change Storms are becoming more intense around the world. Second most frequent tornado outbreaks It remains on record in the country.
Harold Brooks, a senior scientist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, said persistent warm, moist air is the cause of the string of tornadoes over the past two months.
That warm, moist air is at the northern end of the heat dome, bringing temperatures that last from mid-summer through late May.
The heat index — a combination of temperature and humidity that measures how hot it feels to the human body — approached triple digits in parts of South Texas on Monday, with sweltering temperatures also expected in San Antonio and Dallas.
In Florida, Melbourne and Fort Pierce set new daily records for high temperatures on Monday, both reaching 98 degrees Fahrenheit (36.7 degrees Celsius). Miami recorded a high of 96 degrees Fahrenheit (35.5 degrees Celsius) on Sunday.
For more recent tornado coverage, visit the Associated Press. Tornado Tracking.
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Schreiner reported from Louisville, Kentucky. Associated Press writers Acacia Coronado in Austin, Texas, and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
