At least 18 dead in tornadoes and storms in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma

By James Cirrone and Emma Richter for Dailymail.Com

06:22 May 27, 2024, updated 07:13 May 27, 2024

At least 18 people, including two children ages two and five, were killed when tornadoes and severe storms swept through Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma over Memorial Day weekend.

Seven of the fatalities, including children, occurred in Cooke County, Texas, when a deadly tornado ripped through a mobile home park on Saturday night.

According to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, the two deceased children belonged to the same family.

“When they woke up yesterday, they had no idea that the family would literally be crushed by this terrible storm,” Abbott said.

During a press conference on Sunday, Abbot said that about 100 people were injured by the tornado and that the exact death toll was “difficult to determine with certainty.”

The mayor added that more than 200 homes and buildings were destroyed and over 100 others were damaged.

“I would be shocked if these numbers didn’t increase,” he said.

Texas residents were seen searching their homes destroyed by the tornado over the weekend.

On Sunday morning, the windshield of a car in Valley View, Texas, was completely shattered and had a gaping hole.

At least eight people were killed in Arkansas, including a 26-year-old woman who was found dead outside a destroyed home in Olvey, a small community in Boone County.

Three people died in Benton County, Arkansas, CBS reported, and officials confirmed several more were injured.

Two people also died in Mayes County, Oklahoma, as a result of the storms that night. Mike Dunham, deputy head of the county's emergency management department, did not initially provide any further details. Six others were injured.

Images were shared of people staring in awe at the damage to the First Baptist Church in Claremore, Oklahoma, on Sunday morning.

Kevin Dorantes, 20, was on his way back to the Valley View neighborhood to search for his father and brother when he came across a family who had lost their entire home.

He saw a father and his son trapped under a pile of rubble while others rushed to their aid.

“They were conscious but seriously injured. The father's legs were broken,” Dorantes told AP News.

By Sunday evening, more than 80,000 customers were without power in Arkansas, and more than 90,000 in Missouri.

According to poweroutage.us, about 27,000 power outages were reported in Texas and 3,000 in Oklahoma.

In the central and midwestern United States, the storms have left more than 480,000 people without electricity, and more than 110 million Americans are under devastating storm warnings.

Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington said most of the deaths in Texas occurred at a trailer park called FRF Estates in Valley View, where crews continue to conduct search and rescue operations despite “significant damage,” WFAA reported.

The tornado also devastated the AP Travel Center in Valley View. 60 to 80 people drove there to seek shelter in the parking lot, bathrooms or Shell gas station, which the storm has now reduced to rubble.

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick issued a statement late Sunday morning announcing that the state's emergency response units had been activated and offering condolences to the victims.

“Jan and I are praying for the first responders, the families in all affected areas, and the victims who tragically lost their lives,” Patrick wrote on X.

Outside of Cooke County, millions of Americans in the middle Mississippi and the Ohio and Tennessee river valleys are at risk of severe hailstorms, strong winds and tornadoes.

In Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas, people were also victims of extreme storms on Saturday night: In the Plains and surrounding areas, more than 250,000 households were without power.

Currently, nearly 500,000 homes are without power in the central and midwestern regions of the United States. The state of Kentucky is hardest hit as the stormy weather moves east.

More than 15 million Americans are at increased risk of storms, most of them in major metropolitan areas such as Indianapolis, Nashville and Cincinnati.

The 108th Indianapolis 500 race was delayed due to threats of thunder and lightning and fans were asked to leave the grandstands.

Meanwhile, local authorities in Texas are busy clearing up the rubble and continuing to search for possible victims.

Sappington told WFAA Sunday morning that he expects a “rise” in the death toll in Cooke County.

The nearly 80 people at the AP Travel Center in Valley View were stranded until the storm moved further east, Sappington said.

Some of the 20 injured were at the gas station in the travel center, but none of the injuries were life-threatening.

Vehicles were damaged or destroyed in the travel center's parking lot, leaving about 40 people stranded. However, a bus eventually came and took them somewhere else where they could be picked up by family members.

Catastrophic destruction also occurred in other parts of Texas around the Dallas Fort Worth area, including in nearby Denton County, where a possible tornado injured an unknown number of residents, overturned semi-trailers and downed trees and power lines, CNN reported.

Officers were deployed to various locations, including “residential homes and mobile home parks,” Denton County spokeswoman Dawn Cobb said in a press release.

Authorities in the neighboring town of Celina also said several houses were damaged by the “obvious tornado activity” on Saturday.

Fox Dallas Fort Worth spoke to Celina resident Kim Weston, who returned home after the storm to find her house destroyed.

Weston's mother, who also lives in the area, was trapped in her home at the time but was later rescued, Fox reported.

“We heard that everyone on the street is OK and unfortunately our house is a total loss, but we are thankful that we are OK,” Weston said.

“It was a godsend that we weren't home. The neighbor across the street had an RV and it landed on our house. The only part that's still standing is where we would have had shelter.”

A probable tornado also swept through Rogers County, Oklahoma, near the city of Tulsa.

Authorities said there was “major damage” in the town of Claremore, a large community in the county, and that most residents would be without power for a “prolonged period of time.”

WFAA obtained dramatic footage of two people driving through the middle of the tornado. They were identified as Valenia Gill and Brenda Procter Dance, driving south on I-35 toward the Texas town of Sanger around 10:45 p.m. Saturday.

“We're in the middle of a tornado, Brenda. What should I do? The car is shaking,” Valenia says as the wind whips debris into her car.

Within seconds, the gusts increase and the ladies stop the car, with Brenda repeating, “Cover your head, cover your head.”

When the tornado subsides a little, Valenia leaves the car and says, “I don't want to go anywhere yet. I'm shaking.”

As the various storms move into the Midwest, forecasters say there is a risk of severe thunderstorms of levels 3 to 5 in parts of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys through Monday morning. Tornadoes of levels EF2 to EF5 could also occur in this area.

However, severe weather continues to persist in the middle of the country, and parts of the Central and Southern Plains remain at risk of level 4 to 5 thunderstorms until Sunday morning.

The thunderstorms that meteorologists expect in the Midwest through Sunday afternoon will intensify and reach areas further south and east during the evening and night.

The storm's spread could extend to the Great Lakes in the north and to parts of Louisiana and the Florida panhandle in the south.

This means major hubs in Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Nashville could be hit by heavy rain and lightning strikes, causing flight cancellations and delays over the Memorial Day weekend.

The southern United States will also experience record-breaking heat waves over the holiday weekend.

In Houston, New Orleans, Miami, Mobile, Alabama, Tampa, Florida and Charleston, South Carolina, temperatures in cities will feel more like July than late May, CNN reported.

In some areas, daily highs of over 46 degrees are possible, the Storm Prediction Center said.