25 Dead Across U.S. After Weekend Tornadoes; Texas Faces New Storms

Weather

By Associated Press

Published 6 months ago on

May 28, 2024

Severe storms and tornadoes over the Memorial Day weekend killed at least 25 people across multiple states, causing widespread power outages in Texas and highlighting a troubling trend of increased severe weather linked to climate change. (AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Nearly 600,000 customers in Texas, including over 350,000 in Dallas County, were without electricity due to the storms.
Tornadoes and severe weather over the Memorial Day weekend resulted in at least 23 deaths across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky.
The U.S. has experienced a grim period of tornadoes and severe weather, with recent storms causing numerous deaths.

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Strong storms with damaging winds and hail pummeled north Texas on Tuesday morning as much of the U.S. recovered from severe weather, including tornadoes, that killed at least 25 people during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Nearly 600,000 Lacked Electricity in Texas

Widespread power outages were reported in the region, which includes Dallas and Fort Worth, where an oppressive, early-season heat wave added to the misery. Nearly 600,000 customers lacked electricity Tuesday, including more than 350,000 in Dallas County, according to PowerOutage.us.

Destructive storms over the weekend caused deaths in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Kentucky.

Seven people were killed in Cooke County, Texas, from a tornado that tore through a mobile home park Saturday, officials said, and eight deaths were reported across Arkansas.

Two people died in Mayes County, Oklahoma, east of Tulsa, authorities said. The injured included guests at an outdoor wedding. A Missouri man died Sunday after a tree limb fell onto his tent as he was camping.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said at a news conference Monday that five people had died in his state.

A possible tornado damaged a high school and a half-dozen homes in Pennsylvania on Monday night. No injuries were reported, but school was canceled in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, said David Truskowsky, spokesperson for the city’s fire department.

Widespread Outages Over Multiple States

Roughly 160,000 homes and businesses lacked electricity Tuesday following the weekend storms in Kentucky. Arkansas, West Virginia and Missouri.

It has been a grim month of tornadoes and severe weather in the nation’s midsection.

Tornadoes in Iowa last week left at least five people dead and dozens injured. Storms killed eight people in Houston this month. April had the second-highest number of tornadoes on record in the country. The storms come as climate change contributes in general 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 to blame for the string of tornadoes over the past two months.

That air is at the northern edge of a heat dome bringing temperatures typically seen at the height of summer to late May.

The heat index — a combination of air temperature and humidity to indicate how the heat feels to the human body — neared triple digits in parts of south Texas on Monday. Extreme heat was also forecast for San Antonio and Dallas.

In Florida, Melbourne and Ft. Pierce set new daily record highs Monday. Both hit 98 degrees (36.7 Celsius). Miami set a record high of 96 (35.5 Celsius) on Sunday.