Natural disasters such as tornadoes and thunderstorms have wreaked havoc across seven states, leaving nearly 300,000 residents without power on Monday night. The weekend saw at least 23 people losing their lives in the central US due to massive storms that brought destruction in their wake. The weather risk has now shifted eastward, covering a vast area stretching from Alabama to New York, with more thunderstorms, damaging wind gusts, hail, and flash flooding expected.
As heavy rain continues to batter the east coast, including parts of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland, the National Weather Service (NWS) warns of a slight risk of severe thunderstorms developing in the northeast and southeast US. The agency has also forecasted severe thunderstorms in Texas on Tuesday, with wind gusts potentially reaching 120 km/h or higher. Additionally, scorching heat is expected to persist in the southern US, with record or near-record high temperatures anticipated.
Monday morning saw over 120 million Americans waking up to severe weather warnings, marking Sunday as the busiest severe weather day in the US this year. The storms resulted in more than 600 reports of damage across 20 states, including tornadoes and heavy winds that leveled buildings and uprooted power lines. Lightning, thunder, and heavy rain even caused the delay of the Indianapolis 500 race by four hours, prompting the evacuation of around 125,000 spectators.
Tragically, several weather-related deaths have been reported in different states, with Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kentucky being among the hardest hit. President Joe Biden has reached out to the governors of affected states, offering federal assistance to aid in recovery efforts. Kentucky Governor Andy Bashear declared a state of emergency after the devastating storms struck various parts of the state, causing widespread destruction.
In Colorado, a farmer and 34 cows fell victim to a fatal lightning strike, highlighting the unpredictable and deadly nature of severe weather. Governor Greg Abbott of Texas declared a disaster in more than a third of the state’s counties after extreme weather devastated the region. Valley View in Cooke County, Texas, near the Oklahoma border, witnessed all seven reported deaths as a tornado ravaged a rural area and a mobile home park, claiming the lives of children and members of the same family.
Video footage captured the extensive damage caused by the twisters, with a filling station and rest stop reduced to rubble, vehicles mangled beyond recognition. These recent tornado incidents follow a powerful tornado that struck a rural Iowa town earlier in May, resulting in the loss of four lives. Looking ahead, government forecasters anticipate an “extraordinary” 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, set to begin next month, highlighting the ongoing threat of severe weather events across the US.