London, ky. – More tornados crossed the US center Severe climate days 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 night, according to a preliminary report of the National Meteorological Service.
In Mcalester, in the southeast of Oklahoma, the authorities reported electric lines and fallen debris, with multiple blocked roads. Around 28 miles (45 kilometers) to the east, in Wilburton, the city’s Facebook page reported a tornado on the ground and headed towards its way. “Go cover now!” The position warned the residents.
Almost 130,000 clients had energy in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas, according to Poweroutage.us.
In northwestern Arkansas, the severe climate caused a Halsey concert to be canceled. And in Oklahoma, Tulsa’s public schools canceled all activities after school.
In northern Texas, the size of the size of softball that measures 4 1/2 inches in diameter was confirmed, according to Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist at the service meteorological prediction center.
On early Monday in St. Louis, where officials estimated that a Friday tornado damaged 5,000 buildings and can cost more than $ 1 billion, the mayor warned that federal assistance could take weeks.
Kentucky has been more affected by storms. A devastating tornado on Friday night to early Saturday damaged hundreds of houses, threw vehicles, left many homeless people and killed at least 19 people, most of them in the southeast of Laurel County.
In London, Kentucky, where devastation It was centeredThe small airport became a cleaning work hive after it received a direct blow from a tornado. Small aircraft stored there had large abolish and even torn wings. The officials used it as the basis for obtaining water, food, diapers and other supplies to the community.
“We have 1,001 things in progress. But we are handling it. And we are going to clean everything,” said London Mayor Randall Weddle.
Officials in Kansas and Texas were also evaluating the damage of Sunday storms.
The risk of severe storms moves to Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee on Tuesday, said the weather service.
Kentucky storms that killed 19 people were part of a weather system that caused seven deaths in Missouri and two in northern Virginia, authorities said.
Lonnie Nantz hid in a corridor with his wife, two daughters and a grandson like the brick house of a floor that they bought near London in 1977 was destroyed around him. They were trapped in rubble for about 20 minutes in midnight’s darkness before they were rescued unharmed.
“I don’t know why this happened. I have tried to live a good life all my life. I still have faith,” said Nantz, 77, who went to Church as always Sunday.
The worker of the city of London, Ashley Taylor, returned to work on Monday loading donas to take a hospital and office center even though there was a canvas on her roof. She was lucky: the houses on the other side of her street were destroyed on Friday night.
He survived the storm with nine other people and three dogs in the tracking space of a neighbor’s house.
“We pray as never before, and grateful for everything God did for us,” Taylor said.
In the surroundings of Laurel County, the first to respond cried one of theirs.
Firefighters found the body of the largest fire of Laurel County, Leslie Leatherman, on top of a woman who was protecting from the fury of the storm while responding the calls during the worst storm. The woman shouted for help and were in a field in front of a destroyed subdivision.
The injured woman turned out to be Leatherman’s wife and officials are not sure if she knew who she was protecting in the dark and chaos, said the fire department. In social networks.
The forecasts on Sunday night issued an emergency of tornado to Greensburg, Kansas, where 12 people were killed and 90% of the city was destroyed in May 2007 by a 1.5 mile tornado (2.4 kilometers) wide with winds of 205 mph (330 kph).
The city was saved this time. The power was out, but the residents were safe after the “storm scare,” Greensburg officials published on social networks.
The tornadoes in Kansas carved a road of 20 miles (32 kilometers) through the Stafford and Reno counties. While the damage was extensive, no injuries or deaths were reported.
The mayor of St. Louis, Cara Spencer, said that five people died, 38 were injured and that more than 5,000 homes were affected by an EF3 tornado with winds of up to 150 mph (240 kph) that criticized areas north and west of the center of Friday. Spencer has estimated that damage will exceed $ 1.6 billion.
“Eight miles of pure destruction, at the time of a mile wide,” Spencer said at a press conference on Monday. “We are talking about thousands of buildings, thousands of families are displaced.”
The city is waiting for a disaster statement from the governor’s office as a first step to obtain federal assistance.
American senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, expressed his frustration for the federal response to a March mortal. “I’m not happy with the fact that we are still waiting for all that damage two months,” said Hawley.
The head of the Federal Federal Emergency Management Agency, David Richardson, said last week to plan change responsibility For the recovery of disasters to the states this year as part of a transformation throughout the agency and that FEMA would coordinate federal assistance “when it is considered necessary.”
Spencer said during a press conference on Monday night that the emergency protocols established in 2021 were not followed, possibly preventing sirens from being activated to warn residents about the tornado.
She said it was not clear who is the responsibility for the community to know about the emergency, but that the Fire Department will do it in the future.
In Texas, several tornadoes landed west of Fort Worth on Sunday, including an EF1 with maximum winds of 105 mph (169 kph) that caused damage to Gordon and its surroundings, said the weather service on Monday.
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This story has been updated to correct that Wilburton is in Oklahoma, not in Texas.
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See more photos of severe storms in the south and the west medium here.
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Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; Hallie Golden in Seattle and Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed to this report.
