Video: Tornado rips off roof of house, snaps power as multiple US states, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, grapple with destruction

Powerful tornadoes tore apart the central United States on Sunday night, leaving a trail of destruction and killing at least 15 people, including two children. The storms affected at least six states, such as Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Illinois through the Memorial Day weekend.

Visuals on social media showed the tornado forming and snapping power of homes. One video showed the tornado taking fierce shape in the sky, then blowing off the roof of a house and snapping its power as the latter’s remnants along with other structures in the vicinity could be seen flying around.

Another video from Illinois showed a tornado forming in the sky, almost swallowing the latter in the process as winds blow around.

A little under 109 million people across broad strips of the US experienced hail, destructive wind and fierce twisters, primarily through the mid-Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee River valleys, on Sunday, CNN reported. Millions continue to face severe weather threats as the forecast threatened to bring more violent weather to other parts of the Midwest later on Monday.

According to the Storm Prediction Center, a heightened tornado watch designated as a “rare, particularly dangerous situation” calling for “severe tornadoes and few intense likely” went into effect on Sunday. It covered regions of Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas.

DEATHS ACROSS STATES

Seven deaths were reported in Texas’s Cooke County, near the Oklahoma border, where a tornado ripped through a rural area near a mobile home park, Governor Greg Abbott said at a press briefing the following day.

The victims included two children, aged two and five. The county sheriff said that three family members were found dead in a single home, The Associated Press reported.

In Oklahoma, two people were killed in Mayes County and six others were injured, BBC reported, citing the local management authority. Arkansas officials said a 26-year-old woman was found dead outside a destroyed home in Olvey, while four more deaths were reported in Benton County. The state also reported several injuries due to the tornado.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenburg of Kentucky confirmed on social media that a man had been killed by getting crushed under a falling tree during the severe storm on Sunday.

The Texas Governor called the situation “heart-wrenching loss of life” and said nearly 100 people were injured and over 200 homes and structures were destroyed.

CNN reported that US President Joe Biden had been briefed on the storm.

SEVERAL HOMES WITHOUT POWER

Some 470,000 people were without power in states from Texas to Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, BBC reported, citing Poweroutage.us.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Kansas’s Sedgwick County told CBS News that emergency services were dealing with uprooted trees and snapped power lines due to the storm, with around 8,000 customers without electricity.

STORM CHANGING DIRECTION

As of Monday morning, CNN reported, there was a level 3 of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms over pockets of Mississippi and Ohio valleys, and EF2 to EF5 tornadoes and wind gusts of 74 mph are possible, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

The storm will head to the East Coast, triggering high winds large hail from Washington DC through the Southeast. The travel hubs of Chicago, Indianapolis, St Louis and Nashville could have to grapple with damaging storms, leading to delayed or cancelled flights.

Louisville, Kentucky, Cincinnati, St Louis, Nashville and Indianapolis are among the cities included in the Level 3 threat.