Storms Ravage Several States Over Memorial Day Weekend, Claiming At Least 19 Lives

At least 19 people are dead as severe storms and tornadoes swept across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kentucky over the weekend, and more than 100 million people are at risk of severe weather on the East Coast on Monday.

The deadliest storms were in Arkansas, where eight people have been confirmed dead, and Texas, where seven people have died, CNN reported. Two people have been confirmed dead in Oklahoma following the storms and another two people were killed in Kentucky when the severe weather ripped through most of the Bluegrass State on Sunday night.

Cooke County, Texas — near the Oklahoma border — took the brunt of the storms, which killed seven people, including two children on Saturday night. The seven deaths were reported after a tornado swept through a rural area near a mobile home park, according to Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, the Associated Press reported. Two of the seven killed were a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old. Three others killed in the north Texas storm were a mother and her two children, ages 15 and 9, according to NBC DFW.

LATEST: Emergency officials say about 250 homes were completely destroyed in last night’s North Texas tornado across Montague, Cooke, Denton and Collin counties.

The breadth of the damage from this storm is massive, whole neighborhoods blown away in under a minute.@NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/huz6Jo2UX9

— Keenan Willard (@KeenanNBC5) May 26, 2024

Family tells @NBCDFW that Laura Esparza, her children 15-year-old Miranda Esparza and 9-year-old Marco Esparza died in last night’s North Texas tornado.

Their mobile home near Valley View was destroyed. Miranda and Marco were thrown across the street under these trucks where… pic.twitter.com/Yyk407t9Yb

— Keenan Willard (@KeenanNBC5) May 26, 2024

The storms continued east through Arkansas, where the city of Rogers was hit hard by a tornado early Sunday morning. Aerial footage of the town showed numerous homes and buildings that were leveled by the storm.

Northwest Arkansas was hit hard by tornadoes early this morning with downtown Rogers being one of the hard hit areas. Aerial footage shows some of the destructions Shortly after it hit and then after daylight. @weatherdan @4029Darby @ToddYakoubian #arwx #tornado #arkansas pic.twitter.com/AFnhthnkwW

— Charles Peek (@CharlesPeekWX) May 26, 2024

“It was horrible. It was so loud and we were so scared,” one Rogers, Arkansas, resident said through tears.

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“We were in the hallway. That’s all we had to go into was the hallway,” the woman added.

“It was so loud… and we were so scared.”

People in Northwest Arkansas awoke to tornado sirens in the middle of the night. Daylight Sunday revealed destruction in Rogers, that took a direct hit. pic.twitter.com/D4hY3a7YUP

— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) May 26, 2024

More footage posted on social media Monday morning showed the destruction caused by a tornado that touched down in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, about 160 miles southwest of Louisville.

*** Dawson Springs, KY Significant TOR DMG! ***
First viewing of the Dawson Springs, #Kentucky #Tornado #damage this morning. This video describes the full-on destruction across the area. I saw boats tossed into the trees, cars thrown, houses wiped down to the foundation, and… pic.twitter.com/B76185isac

— Chicago & Midwest Storm Chasers (@ChicagoMWeather) May 27, 2024

Forecasters said that storms are likely to move through states from Alabama to as far east as New York on Monday. New York City; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Richmond, Virginia; and Raleigh, North Carolina are all under a moderate risk for severe thunderstorms throughout Memorial Day, and isolated tornadoes are possible, The Weather Channel reported.

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