The US weather services counted a total of 25 tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas on Saturday. The number of victims is expected to rise.
At least 14 people died in the southern United States, according to authorities cited by the media, after powerful tornadoes hit Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas overnight from Saturday to Sunday. Rescuers were still searching Sunday to try to find and locate survivors in the rubble of buildings blown up by bad weather, which also caused major power outages.
The US Weather Service (NWS) counted a total of 25 tornadoes on Saturday. North of Dallas, Texas, a tornado killed at least seven people, according to Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington. “Unfortunately, this number will increase”he predicted on The Weather Channel, specifying that research is still ongoing in light of “massive damage” On-site.
One highway area was particularly ravaged by the storm, while dozens of people sought refuge at the gas station for protection. “A lot” a lot of people were hurt there, Ray Sappington said.
The start of the Indianapolis 500 is delayed
Two people died in western Oklahoma due to another tornado, according to officials cited by local television. In northern Arkansas, a storm killed five people early Sunday morning, according to authorities. The bad weather even went so far as to derail the start of the 108th edition of the Indianapolis 500, much further north and east, with organizers of this legendary auto race asking spectators to leave the stands.
The start was supposed to be given at 12:45 (18:45 local time), but the organizers decided to postpone it, without specifying a new time, due to the expected storms and lightning. An audience of 125,000 spectators was expected “Indianapolis Motor Speedway” Sunday.
Nearly 500,000 homes were without power Sunday morning in Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Tennessee and Arkansas, according to the website poweroutage.us. Tornado warnings are still in effect Sunday. Tornadoes, weather phenomena that are as impressive as they are difficult to predict, are relatively common in the United States, especially in the central and southern parts of the country.
A tornado hits Iowa on Tuesday
At least five people have already died and dozens of others have been injured after a tornado struck Iowa in the central US on Tuesday, according to authorities. Houses were completely destroyed and trees uprooted by this tornado, which ravaged the town of Greenfield with a population of 2000. “Four Dead, At Least 35 Injured After Tornado Hits Greenfield, Adair County Area”Iowa police said Wednesday, adding that the number of injured could rise further.
Another person died when their car was swept away, the Adam County Sheriff’s Office said. A hospital was damaged in Greenfield and patients were evacuated to other medical centers. About a hundred rescue workers began searching for the debris, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds also announced. According to CNN, the number of tornadoes in the United States in recent weeks is far above normal, and 800 have been recorded since the beginning of the year.