Deadly storms turn northeast with 68 million people at risk of severe weather on Memorial Day
General view of damage to the home of Cindi Watts, 55, after a tornado ripped through the city, in Temple, Texas, U.S., May 23, 2024. REUTERS/Evan Garcia/File Photo
Evan Garcia | Reuters
At least 68 million people were under severe weather warnings on Memorial Day, as storms then turned toward the Northeast. claimed the lives of at least 19 people and left half a million homes and businesses without power across the Central United States.
The major storm will move through Arkansas and Tennessee and into the Ohio Valley before moving north to the East Coast, through the Carolinas, Pennsylvania and New York. NBC meteorologist Michelle Grossman said in a report early Monday that heavy rain, winds of more than 60 mph and hail more than 2 inches thick were expected, with some tornado.
Flash flood warnings were in place for 9 million people, mainly in Tennessee, Kentucky and southern Indiana.
The Jackson County coroner said the severe weather extended as far as Colorado, where a rancher and 34 of his cattle were killed in a lightning strike near the town of Rand, 80 miles northwest of Denver. . Police said Mike Morgan, 51, was feeding cattle from a trailer when lightning struck the open pasture – the remaining 100 cattle were unharmed.
The website PowerOutage.us, which tracks energy connections, said there were more than 500,000 customers without power as of 5:30 a.m. in the affected areas, including 200,000 customers in Kentucky, nearly 10 percent. of the state’s total 2.3 million electricity connections. Both Missouri and West Virginia had more than 72,000 lost connections, the website said.
Kentucky State Police said some emergency phone lines were damaged and not working. NBC affiliate WNKY of Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Monday’s weather warning comes after a hot night across southern states and the Great Plains. Eight people are reported dead in Arkansas; seven in Texas; two in Oklahoma and two in Kentucky. The deaths were due to weather-related incidents including falling trees.
Tornadoes have been confirmed across the region – images from the town of Valley View, Texas, about 55 miles north of Fort Worth, show homes and vehicles wiped out. The weather watcher posted the image from Missouri And Kentucky showed ominous giant funnel clouds as well as golf ball-sized hailstones.
NWS will send at least two teams to survey damage across Kentucky, a process they said it will take a few days. A state of emergency has been declared in at least five states in Kentucky and throughout parts of Arkansas.
As a cold front heads north, extreme heat warnings are in place for southern and central Texas, where temperatures could rise to more than 100 degrees on Monday, possibly breaking daily records. day.
The National Weather Service said in a forecast that the heat index — a measure of how hot it feels — could reach a dangerous 120 degrees in the Lone Star State. Similar hot weather is forecast for Key West, Florida and surrounding areas.
The Associated Press contributed.
