Rash of tornadoes tears through the Midwest, killing at least 2
A regional tornado outbreak is brewing in the Midwest on Sunday evening. More than three dozen tornado reports were recorded by the Storm Prediction Center. super cell storms moving east into the Ohio Valley.
This one comes right after another whirlwind tour The incident that destroyed buildings and caused widespread destruction in the area just four days ago. Last week’s storms it was fatal While severe weather conditions ravaged the central United States, multiple people lost their lives in many states.
on Sunday, according to County Sheriff Jeff Bullard. At least two people were killed in rural Jefferson County, Illinois, about 90 miles southeast of St. Louis.
Both victims died in separate mobile homes that collapsed about 2 to 3 miles apart, Bullard said.
A third home was completely destroyed and five other people were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, Bullard said.
Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator Keith Hertenstein said the storms damaged at least 20 homes in the county. Trees and power lines were downed and some citizens were left without electricity.
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Tornadoes also ripped through southern Indiana, with many homes “completely destroyed,” Gibson County Sheriff Bruce Vanoven said. in question. The storm caused damage to many communities in the region before moving east.
No injuries were reported as of Sunday evening. Vanoven urged residents to stay home while crews worked at the active scene and warned that downed power lines and debris would be harder to see after dark.
The storm ripped through a retirement community in neighboring Warrick County, Sheriff Mike Wilder told CNN. Two roofs collapsed at the Park Place Apartments in the town of Newburgh, trapping a woman who had to be rescued by emergency workers, Wilder said. The woman and two others suffered minor injuries but refused treatment at the scene.
Also in Newburgh, a woman visiting her parents at a different apartment complex witnessed debris “flying everywhere” and watched from her car as a tornado ripped through the parking lot and pool.
“It was like boom… Sitting there 200 yards from my vehicle with my car in reverse, ready to take off,” Ka’Lisha Puckett told CNN. He said firefighters knocked on his parents’ door at the Bell Pointe Apartments to prepare them for evacuation due to damage to their roof.
Further west, severe storms from the same system ripped through Western and Central Oklahoma after midnight CT on Monday morning. A gust of 102 mph was recorded in the Hinton Mesonet area, about 50 miles west of Oklahoma City, with winds gusting to 80 mph.
Just after 1 a.m. CT, the National Weather Service issued its highest level severe thunderstorm warning for the entire Oklahoma City metro area. In all capital letters and a rare exclamation point, the warning reads, “THESE ARE DEVASTIOUS STORMS FOR THE OKLAHOMA CITY SUBWAY!” it said. With these storms, heavy rain brought visibility to near zero.
Sunday’s storms broke out along the front lines left behind by the morning storms. As warmth and moisture returned in the afternoon, the atmosphere quickly refilled and transformed into rotating supercells capable of producing thunderstorms, tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds.
Heavy rain poses an additional threat Sunday night through Monday, with the risk of flooding rain remaining at 3/4 for parts of the Central Plains, central Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley. Repeated storms over the past two weeks have caused streams to rise, making it easier to trigger flash floods in these areas.
The same storm system is expected to reach the Mid-Atlantic and Appalachian regions on Monday, bringing the risk of severe thunderstorms to Level 2/5. The main threat on Monday will be high winds, but a hurricane or two is not out of the question.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN’s Amanda Musa contributed to this report.
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