The death toll from furious tornadoes and thunderstorms that carved a path of destruction through America’s Heartland on Memorial Day Weekend reached 25 by Tuesday afternoon.
At least eight people were killed in Arkansas, seven in Texas, five in Kentucky, two in Oklahoma and one in Missouri, authorities in the various states announced.
While northern Texas took the brunt of the damage on Saturday, the storms continued east and wreaked havoc in eastern Missouri, western Kentucky and northern Arkansas on Sunday into Monday.
The National Weather Service confirmed five tornadoes touched down in northern Arkansas, where one devastated the 70,000-person town of Rogers.
“It’s a miracle we don’t have way more fatalities,” Benton County Coroner Daniel Oxford told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
Additionally, several tornadoes were reported in western Kentucky, where Gov. Andy Beshear said one twister traveled about 40 miles. The area was previously devastated by storms in December 2021, when a series of tornadoes killed 81 people in the state in a single night.
“At least one family who lost their home in the 2021 tornado lost their home again last night,” Beshear told the Louisville Courier Journal.
And in the small southeast Missouri town of Sikeston, a man died when a falling tree limb landed on him, according to local CBS affiliate KFVS.
Earlier in the weekend, seven people were killed in Cooke County, Texas, north of Dallas, when a tornado ripped through a mobile home park. By Tuesday morning, severe weather had returned to various parts of Texas, with hail and damaging winds affecting the north, while the south sweltered under extreme heat.
More than 900,000 people in Texas were without power, according to Poweroutage.us, leaving them to suffer in the high temperatures without air conditioning.
With News Wire Services
