More tornadoes plowed through the central US on Monday, ripping apart buildings and knocking out power as people from Texas to Kentucky continued to clean up from days of severe weather that killed more than two dozen people and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings.
At least four tornadoes were confirmed in Oklahoma and Nebraska on Monday evening, a preliminary report from the US National Weather Service said.
Across Oklahoma, at least 10 homes were destroyed and multiple buildings were damaged, including a fire station that was wiped out, the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said. A spokesperson for the agency said they have not received any reports of injuries or deaths.
Photo: EPA-EFE
About 115,000 customers were without power in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri, according to PowerOutage.us. Parts of several highways were also closed due to flooding or storm damage.
In northwest Arkansas, severe weather caused a Halsey concert to be canceled and a municipal airport had to close temporarily on Monday night so crews could remove debris from the field. In Oklahoma, Tulsa Public Schools canceled all afterschool activities.
Northern Texas saw softball-sized hail measuring 11.4cm in diameter, said Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist with the service’s Weather Prediction Center.
Earlier on Monday in St Louis, where officials estimated a Friday tornado damaged 5,000 buildings and might cost more than US$1 billion, the mayor warned that federal assistance could take weeks.
Kentucky has been hardest hit by the storms. A devastating tornado late on Friday into early Saturday damaged hundreds of homes, tossed vehicles and killed at least 19 people, most of them in southeastern Laurel County.
In London, Kentucky, where the devastation was centered, the small airport became a beehive of cleanup work after it took a direct hit from a tornado. Small aircraft stored there had large dents in them and even wings ripped open. Officials were using it as a base to get water, food, diapers and other supplies out to the community.
“We have 1,001 things going on, but we’re managing it. And we’re going to get it all cleaned up,” London Mayor Randall Weddle said.
Officials in Kansas and Texas were also evaluating damage from late Sunday storms.
The risk of severe storms yesterday moved into Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, the weather service said.
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