CYPRESS, Texas — Kenny Beck surveyed the damage Tuesday to his family’s two-story home after at least two tornadoes tore through the Houston area, damaging over 100 homes at the start of a busy Thanksgiving travel week that has Americans closely eyeing the weather.
“Half my roof on the back is gone,” Beck, 46, said as workers cleared large tree branches and other debris from around nearby houses in the suburb of Cypress. “We’ve lost a lot of ceiling because of the rain. Our garage door got sucked in.”
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HOUSTON — More than 100 homes have been damaged after a tornado touched down in a residential area outside Houston, authorities in Texas said Monday.
No injuries were reported.
Photos and drone video posted on Facebook by the Harris County Precinct 4 constable showed roofs with shingles ripped off. Some debris blocked roads.
The damage affected the Memorial Northwest neighborhood, according to the office of Mark Herman, the constable.
The Houston Fire Department dispatched five members of its saw team to cut up and remove toppled trees, spokesperson Rustin Rawlings said.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for southeastern Texas, including Houston, until 1 a.m. Tuesday. It also issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of southeastern Texas.
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This story has been corrected to show that Herman is constable of Harris County Precinct 4, not Precinct 3.
Floridians recovering from Hurricane Milton, many of whom were journeying home after fleeing hundreds of miles to escape the storm, spent much of Saturday searching for gas as a fuel shortage gripped the state.
In St. Petersburg, scores of people lined up at a station that had no gas, hoping it would arrive soon. Among them was Daniel Thornton and his 9-year-old daughter Magnolia, who arrived at the station at 7 a.m. and were still waiting four hours later.
“They told me they have gas coming but they don’t know when it’s going to be here,” he said. “I have no choice. I have to sit here all day with her until I get gas.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters Saturday morning that the state opened three fuel distribution sites and planned to open several more. Residents can get 10 gallons each, free of charge, he said.
An aerial view of vehicles lined up to wait for gas at a Circle K station on Oct. 11, 2024, in Englewood, Florida.
Getty Images
“Obviously as power gets restored…and the Port of Tampa is open, you’re going to see the fuel flowing. But in the meantime, we want to give people another option,” DeSantis said.
About one in three gas stations across the state were still closed Saturday, many of which are unable to operate because they are still without power, causing a bottleneck for those that are open.
DeSantis said that 37 million gallons of gas arrived at Florida ports Saturday.
“We have Florida Highway Patrol that will escort the tankers from the ports to the respective service stations,” DeSantis said.
Law enforcement members help a motorist that ran out of fuel while waiting for in line for gas at a depot Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Plant City, Florlda. Gas stations are slow to reopen after the effects of Hurricane Milton.
Chris O’Meara / AP
Tensions boiled over at one gas station north of Tampa Saturday over the long wait times.
“They were fighting, like fist fighting,” Tootie Jones, a gas station security guard, told CBS News. “One girl hit another girl with a car.”
In the community of Brandon east of Tampa, one woman said she had been waiting in line for gas for two hours.
Milton killed at least 23 people when it tore across central Florida on Wednesday, flooding barrier islands, ripping the roof off the Tampa Bay Rays’ baseball stadium and spawning deadly tornadoes.
Officials say the toll could have been worse if not for the widespread evacuations. Overall, more than a thousand people had been rescued in the wake of the storm as of Saturday, DeSantis said.
A member of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office goes out to help residents trapped in their homes as waters rise after Hurricane Milton caused the Anclote River to flood, Oct. 11, 2024, in New Port Richey, Florida.
AP Photo/Mike Carlson
The still-fresh devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene just two weeks earlier probably helped compel many people to flee.
“Helene likely provided a stark reminder of how vulnerable certain areas are to storms, particularly coastal regions,” said Craig Fugate, who served as administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Barack Obama. “When people see firsthand what can happen, especially in neighboring areas, it can drive behavior change in future storms.”
More than 1.2 million customers in Florida remained without power Saturday evening, according to Find Energy. The White House said 50,000 workers, many from across the U.S. are working to restore power.
CBS News traveled Saturday the hard-hit community of Valrico east of Tampa, where floodwaters swallowed up entire neighborhoods.
Terry Rudd and his family are just now returning to see what’s left of their home.
“This is going to be a mess here to try to rebuild,” Rudd said.
The Rudd family lost a car, and the floor of their home is caving in.
“We’re gonna cry, we’re gonna cry a lot after this,” family member Tiffany Nagy said. “The love we have in this family will always be there.”
Homeowner Robert Turick, 68, left, and storm waste removal contractor Sven Barnes work to clear debris that storm surge from Hurricane Milton swept from other properties into Turick’s canal-facing backyard, in Englewood, Florida, Oct. 11, 2024.
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Many Florida residents, meanwhile, were grateful to be coming back alive.
“I love my house, but I’m not dying in it,” Fred Neuman said Friday while walking his dog outside a rest stop off Interstate 75 north of Tampa.
Neuman and his wife live in Siesta Key, where Milton made landfall Wednesday night as a powerful, Category 3 hurricane. Heeding local evacuation orders ahead of the storm, they drove nearly 500 miles to Destin on the Florida Panhandle. Neighbors told the couple the hurricane destroyed their carport and inflicted other damage but Neuman shrugged, saying their insurance should cover it.
About 30 miles north in Zephyrhills, a CBS News crew joined the Pasco County Fire Rescue team as they waded through the water to ensure everyone got out of their homes safely.
“These are all brand new homes. These were all built within the last year and a half to two years, so they obviously went a little higher on the ground for them and they’re good still but … the original homes in this neighborhood are suffering the consequences of the three hurricanes,” a rescuer told CBS News.
The golf course community has faced flooding from hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton, leaving the already saturated ground with little room to handle even more water.
Lee and Pamela Essenburm evacuated their home in Palmetto, on the south end of Tampa Bay, fearing Milton might hit as a catastrophic Category 4 or 5 storm.
“I wasn’t going to take a chance on it,” Lee Essenbaum said. “It’s not worth it.”
On Saturday, President Biden approved a disaster declaration for the state of Florida that makes federal funding available to affected individuals in the following counties: Brevard, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, DeSoto, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter, and Volusia and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida.
Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help people and businesses recover after Milton.
“This is ridiculous. We need power out here. We need help out here,” said Mia Watson, a resident of Palm Beach Gardens.
Tornadoes wrought unexpected damage
Tony Brazzale, a diving boat captain who has lived for 10 years in his Wellington home in southeastern Florida, wasn’t worried about Hurricane Milton. The storm’s center was forecast to land on the opposite side of the peninsula and then cross the state well to the north of his family.
But on Wednesday afternoon as the hurricane began to pummel the state, he stood outside his house and watched as a tornado loomed in the sky. He took a video on his phone. The pressure dropped, and his wife said her ears were popping. It was time to go inside.
Tony Brazzale removes part of a tree felled by a tornado from in front of his house in Wellington, Florida, Oct. 11, 2024.
AP Photo/Stephany Matat
The twister shattered windows in the home, tore off roof shingles, ripped a tree from the ground and left branches and other debris scattered in the yard. Two days later Brazzale was wearing safety goggles and using a chainsaw as he cleaned up the damage.
“The hurricane was a nonevent for us,” he said. “Had it not been for an F-3 tornado, the entire thing would have been a nonevent for us.”
It was one of dozens of tornadoes spawned by Milton that hit South Florida far from where the storm made landfall near Sarasota. One of them killed at least six people in Spanish Lakes Country Club Village near Fort Pierce, about an hour’s drive north from Wellington.
Meteorologists believe there may have been at least 38 tornadoes associated with Milton. The National Weather Service is still reviewing preliminary reports, which could take weeks, but it issued 126 tornado warnings in the state the day the hurricane hit.
Neighborhoods destroyed by tornadoes are seen in this aerial photo in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, Oct. 10, 2024, in Fort Pierce, Florida.
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
When the review is complete, the storm could crack the all-time top-10 list for most tornadoes caused by a hurricane.
One of those twisters narrowly missed Tom Perusi’s home, but it easily tossed his boat.
“We went into the bathroom, our concrete bathroom and stayed there,” he told CBS News. “And with the whole shook it, just everything shook. And when we got out, I took it serious. I thought I was all ready. I was ready for everything, not a tornado.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis warned people to not let down their guard, however, citing ongoing safety threats including downed power lines and standing water that could hide dangerous objects.
“We’re now in the period where you have fatalities that are preventable,” DeSantis said Friday. “You have to make the proper decisions and know that there are hazards out there.”
Tornadic winds knocked nearly four dozen train cars off a track in North Dakota, part of a storm system that spurred reports of five tornadoes across the Dakotas.
BNSF Railway spokesperson Kendall Sloan said a train was stopped due to a tornado warning Wednesday night near the town of Steele, North Dakota, when high winds caused 43 empty coal cars to derail.
No one was hurt, and no hazardous materials were in the cars, Sloan said in an email. BNSF cleanup crews were at the site on Thursday.
The National Weather Service in Bismarck, North Dakota, confirmed on Thursday that a tornado touched down near Steele around 8 p.m. Wednesday. The agency said another tornado touched down at 5:40 p.m. Wednesday southwest of Selfridge, North Dakota, on the Standing Rock Tribal Nation.
The weather service said three potential tornadoes also were reported in north-central South Dakota on Wednesday night. No injuries were reported. Survey crews were still working to confirm in damage in South Dakota was from tornadoes.
While bad weather was generally moving out of the Dakotas, severe thunderstorms were possible Thursday in Minnesota and parts of Iowa and Wisconsin, the weather service said.
Post Tropical Cyclone Debby started to move out of the D.C. area Friday afternoon after drenching the region with heavy rains and high winds throughout the morning. Here’s what you need to know.
However, a cold front approaching from the west brought the chance for a few more scattered showers and some gusty thunderstorms through Friday evening, WTOP meteorologist Mike Stinneford said, adding that conditions will remain “rather muggy” for the rest of the day.
“Not expecting a big outbreak of severe weather but some storms can produce some gusty winds and heavy rainfall,” Stinneford said.
Any storms were expected to end quickly and skies will clear up overnight.
Overall, remnants from Debby dumped between 2.5 to 4.5 inches of rain Friday morning. Parts of the area were under a tornado watch, which was canceled around noon, but not before the National Weather Service issued tornado warnings in parts of Northern Virginia.
A flood warning in effect was in effect until 10 p.m. Friday for the major bodies of water around the D.C. metropolitan area where roads have the likelihood of flooding due to increased water levels, according to the NWS.
A ground delay was reported at Reagan National Airport in Arlington until 10 p.m. “due to low ceilings,” according to the FAA.
Earlier, the threat of severe weather prompted school systems to modify their schedules for Friday, including closures and cancellations.
Showers will stick around late into Friday evening, and winds should also die down overnight, with breezy conditions on Saturday morning.
“Good news is, much nicer for the weekend, with sunshine and lower humidity,” WTOP meteorologist Lauryn Ricketts said.
Flooding from Debby in Annapolis, Maryland.
(WTOP/John Domen)
WTOP/John Domen
Car make a splash in Langley Park, trying to get through flooded roadways during Storm Debby.
(WTOP/Kyle Cooper)
WTOP/Kyle Cooper
Alexandria commuters move slowly through the last remnants of Storm Debby, which brought heavy rain and flooding.
(WTOP/Cheyenne Corin)
WTOP/Cheyenne Corin
Roads were closed in Annapolis, Maryland, as Storm Debby brought heavy flooding.
(WTOP/John Domen)
WTOP/John Domen
A car at the intersection of University Blvd. and New Hampshire Ave. drives through flood water in Langley Park after the last remnants of Storm Debby.
(WTOP/Kyle Cooper)
WTOP/Kyle Cooper
The docks in Annapolis flooded during Storm Debby, with boats floating at ground level.
(WTOP/John Domen)
WTOP/John Domen
A tow truck helps cars that get stuck in a large puddle on Game Preserve Road in Maryland after the last remnants of Storm Debby.
(WTOP/Kyle Cooper)
WTOP/Kyle Cooper
FORECAST
FRIDAY NIGHT: Clearing skies. Lows mid 60s to lower 70s
SATURDAY: Partly to mostly sunny with lower humidity. A passing showers possible southeast of D.C. Highs mid to upper 80s
SUNDAY: Partly to mostly sunny. The humidity will stay low. Highs low to mid 80s
MONDAY: Partly cloudy and pleasant. Highs in the lower 80s
TUESDAY: A chance of a shower. Highs near 80
CURRENT CONDITIONS
Outages
The Associated Press and WTOP’s Will Vitka and Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
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Tropical Storm Debby was downgraded to a tropical depression Thursday afternoon and it’s expected to continue weakening as it moves north this week — but not before it rolls through the D.C. area bringing the risk of flooding and the formation of tornadoes. Here’s what you need to know.
A flash flood warning is also in effect in northwestern Fauquier County and western Loudoun County and its surrounding areas until 3:15 a.m. Friday. Between two and four inches of rain have fallen and more is expected to come with the biggest risk around small creeks and streams.
A flash flood warning is also in effect for northwestern Washington County and northeastern Allegany County in western Maryland until 3 a.m.
WTOP Meteorologist Mike Stinneford confirmed a tornado touched down in Goldvein in Fauquier County around 8 p.m. and another around the heart of Warrenton around 8:20 p.m.
Flash flooding is often caused when rain “runs off because the ground is too hard to absorb it,” Stinneford said. “The ground is really dry, almost like an adobe brick, so it’s hard for this rain to soak in.”
Stinneford said these rain-wrapped tornadoes will be especially hard to see at night, so motorists should absolutely avoid driving at all costs.
“Since this is a tropical system, there’s really no threat of lightning either. So you won’t get that advanced warning that we get sometimes with tornadoes, that you’ll see a lot of lightning and thunder, very little going on with this tropical system,” Stinneford said.
Anyone in the path of a possible tornado touchdown should take cover, shelter in place and avoid being near windows as dangerous flying debris will be likely.
The NWS said “torrential rainfall is occurring with this storm, and may lead to flash flooding” around the D.C. area.
Three to 5 inches of rain are expected in counties affected by a flood watch, also issued by the NWS, which extends into western Maryland, southern Virginia and northwestern Virginia. Excessive runoff could cause flooding in rivers, creeks and streams.
Weathering the storm
Local governments are offering sandbags for residents and small businesses that will be affected by the flooding. In Maryland, Prince George’s County residents can pick up four to 10 sandbags until Saturday at three different locations across the county, and Annapolis residents can use their identification to pick up shovels and sandbags at the Donner Parking Lot, at 60 West Street.
7News First Alert Senior Meteorologist Brian van de Graaff told WTOP the heaviest rain will be coming down Thursday evening and Friday morning, with rain totals reaching 1 to 3 inches in the District.
“We’re looking at the potential for some severe weather early on your Friday morning, including some damaging winds, heavy downpours and the threat for some spin ups, isolated tornadoes, as that spin is in the atmosphere,” van de Graaff said.
The worst of the storm will have passed by Friday afternoon, with skies clearing up in the evening and leaving the parting gift of a cooler weekend in the low to mid-80s.
Earl Stoddard, former director of the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security in Montgomery County, told reporters in Wednesday’s briefing: “With a storm system like this, what we’re concerned about is the near-random locations of high intensity rainfalls that overwhelm the local stormwater management systems in that area,” and lead to either street or backyard flooding.
There are areas of the county that flood regularly when heavy storms hit.
“The aptly-named Beach Drive is a common place where we see flooding,” he said.
There are also flood monitors that dot the county with sensors that serve as warnings before actual flooding takes place, said Stoddard. “We have teams around the county making sure those monitors are actively working right now,” he said.
“We will have the Emergency Operations Center actively monitoring during the peak of the storm, certainly Friday into Saturday,” said Stoddard.
DC activates emergency operations center
The District activated its Emergency Operations Center in anticipation of Tropical Depression Debby’s impacts.
“Residents are reminded that you should never drive, bike, or walk through floodwaters. Almost half of all flash flood deaths happen in vehicles. When in your vehicle, look out for flooding in low lying areas, at bridges, and at highway dips. As little as 6 inches of water may cause a driver to lose control of their vehicle,” a release read.
Sign up for AlertDC at alert.dc.gov and follow AlertDC on X @AlertDC.
Track weather forecasts from the National Weather Service for up-to-date information on the storm timing and location.
Call 311 to report downed trees.
Install protection or move items out of any areas that typically flood.
Ensure you know where insurance and other important numbers are located (and take pictures of important documents like your insurance cards).
Check on neighbors who may require assistance if it is safe to do so. This includes individuals with infants, children as well as older adults, people with disabilities and others who may need help.
If you have a water emergency or a sewer backup, immediately report it to DC Water’s Water and Sewer Emergency Line by calling (202) 612-3400.
Residents can report clogged or blocked storm drains, or any other issues related to water and sewer service, to DC Water’s Emergency Command Center is available 24-hours a day, seven days a week by phone at (202) 612-3400, or through their online report a problem platform.
Keep yourself safe during flooding:
Stay off the roads: emergency workers will be assisting people in flooded areas.
Be aware of areas where floodwaters have receded. Roads may have weakened and could collapse under the weight of a car.
Stay out of floodwater: Standing water may be electrically charged from underground or downed power lines or contain hazards such as human and animal waste, dangerous debris, contaminates that can lead to illness, or wild or stray animals.
Stay safe after the storm:
Treat all downed power lines as if they’re live. Do not touch, drive over, or try to move downed power lines. Report downed power lines to 311.
If your home has flood water inside or around it, don’t walk or wade in it. The water may be contaminated by oil, gasoline, or raw sewage. Never attempt to turn off power or operate circuit breakers while standing in water.
Be careful when cleaning up. Wear protective clothing, including a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, work gloves and sturdy thick-soled shoes. Do not try to remove heavy debris by yourself. Use an appropriate mask if cleaning mold or other debris. People with asthma and other lung conditions and/or immune suppression should not enter buildings with indoor water leaks or mold growth that can be seen or smelled. Children should not take part in disaster cleanup work.
Use a generator correctly and safely. Keep generators dry and position them outdoors and well away from any structure. Using a generator incorrectly can lead to dangerous situations, including carbon monoxide poisoning from engine exhaust. If you start to feel sick, dizzy, or weak while using a generator, get fresh air right away.
Virginia prepares for storm damage, National Guard on standby
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency for the Commonwealth on Tuesday as the impending weather “could cause transportation difficulties and power outages.” The declaration allows the state to prepare resources to help with dangerous storm conditions and recovery. The Virginia National Guard is standing by, ready to help.
“They will have about 140 of their soldiers ready to go if any need arises,” said Jason Elmore, a spokesman with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. “Some of those needs may be rescue. They have vehicles that can travel in flooded waters.”
The south-central area of Virginia is expected to see the most rain, upward of 6 to 7 inches, according to forecasts. Elmore said the National Guard is “vital” in this type of situation.
“They have a larger number of people that they can deploy to specific areas, and they can activate pretty quickly,” he added.
Youngkin told WTOP, “Northern Virginia will see a lot of rain. And so I’m just asking everybody, please stay informed, stay alert and have a plan.”
“Let’s stand up together. Let’s lock arms and make sure that we all weather the storm healthy and safely,” he added. “Your car is not a submarine, and let’s use some common sense here.”
Maryland also issued a state of preparedness declaration that coordinates preparations for the storm without declaring a state of emergency.
FORECAST
Steadier rain bands arrive this afternoon, separated by briefer dry breaks as Tropical Depression Debby heads deeper into the Carolinas. Expect standing water in favorable spots for the evening commute.
The Flood Watch will likely get expanded east of Route 15.
Early Friday is also the best risk for widespread heavy rain bands as Debby sweeps up I-81. Within these rain bands, a gusty storm and/or brief tornado spin up is definitely possible. The southeast wind will be breezy, likely gusty along the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay on Friday where coastal flooding is likely.
A northwest wind will start to work toward drying the pavement after about 5 p.m. Friday. We are in for a cooler, less humid and dry weekend following Debby’s passage, thanks to a cold front sweeping everything to the east of our area.
THURSDAY AFTERNOON: Occasional rain and thunder. Spotty flooding developing later in the day. Highs: Low 80s Winds: SE 5-10 mph
THURSDAY NIGHT: Bands of heavy showers and turning breezy. Flooding expected with a brief tornado or two possible. A few downed trees for the AM commute. Low: 76 degrees. Winds: SE increasing to 10-15 mph, 20-25 mph along the western shore of the Bay
FRIDAY: Occasional rain, thunder, gusty winds and tornado or two possible. Flooding likely. Rain ends late afternoon and sun returns. Highs: Low 80s Winds: SE 10-15 mph, 20-30 mph along the Bay
WEEKEND: Mostly sunny, cooler and less humid. Low: 60s with highs in the low to mid 80s.
CURRENT CONDITIONS
Outages
The Associated Press and WTOP’s Will Vitka, Kate Ryan and Nick Iannelli contributed to this report.
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Baby formula maker Reckitt said supplies of some of its nutrition products are likely to be affected by a tornado that damaged one of its warehouses in Mount Vernon, Indiana.
Reckitt, a British consumer goods company, owns Mead Johnson Nutrition, the maker of Enfamil baby formula products. Reckitt on Wednesday said that the tornado, which struck on July 9, caused “significant damage” to the warehouse, which the company called “an important site for the Mead Johnson Nutrition business.” The facility, which is operated by a contractor, houses both raw materials and finished products.
A cluster of at least four tornadoes whipped up by the remnants of Hurricane Beryl barreled through Indiana’s southwestern corner, with winds up to 140 mph.
The twister that hit Mount Vernon and other parts of Posey County grew to about 300 yards wide and left a trail of damage nearly six miles long, collapsing much of a warehouse, derailing train cars, damaging mobile homes and ripping roofs off homes.
While Reckitt said that it regained access to the warehouse on July 13, the facility is not yet operational. In the meantime, all inbound deliveries have been diverted to other warehouses in the U.S., the company said.
That could mean temporary shortages of some of its baby formula products in the near future. Mead Johnson told CBS MoneyWatch that supplies of some of its nutrition products “will likely be affected in the short term.”
“We are partnering with customers and suppliers on expedited recovery efforts to minimize disruption by leveraging our global supply chain and managing inventory at our other U.S. warehouses,” Mead Johnson added in a statement.
Reckitt is still assessing the damage to the warehouse and said it would provide on update on its quarterly earnings call on July 24.
Reckitt also said the weather event will affect the company’s short-term sales. The company is “working closely with all our stakeholders including customers and suppliers, to minimize disruption, by leveraging our global supply chain and managing inventory at our other North American Nutrition warehouses and held by our retail partners,” the company said.
Reckitt added that it expects its property damage and business interruption insurance policies to mitigate the impact of the temporary facility closure on company earnings.
Parents and caregivers around the U.S. faced a severe shortage of infant formula in 2022 as the pandemic disrupted global supply chains. Compounding the problem was the closure of a Sturgis, Michigan, plant operated by Abbott Nutrition, a major manufacturer of baby nutrition products, because of bacterial infections.
Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.
Afternoon thunderstorms en route to Colorado Wednesday afternoon threaten to bring large hail, damaging winds and tornado touchdowns, according to the National Weather Service.
Although the metro area has a slight chance of afternoon storms, the worst weather is expected to hit Colorado’s Eastern Plains east of Fort Morgan, NWS forecasters said.
“Large hail and damaging winds are the main hazards, but an isolated tornado can’t be ruled out,” forecasters said in a statement on social media. The weather service did not specify how big of hail or how strong of wind gusts are expected to hit the plains.
The storms will start around 2:30 p.m. on Colorado’s eastern border, near Julesburg, and around 3:30 p.m. further west on the plains, including near Akron and Limon, according to NWS forecasters.
Potential tornadoes are most likely on the eastern border, near Julesburg, but chances of a touchdown remain below 10%, forecasters said.
The Denver area can expect a dry afternoon Wednesday, with temperature highs around 92 degrees, according to NWS forecasters.
“Across the high country and urban corridor, dry and breezy weather is expected this afternoon, with elevated fire weather conditions possible,” forecasters said in a hazardous weather outlook.
Thunderstorms are more likely to move in on the metro area Thursday night, potentially disrupting fireworks plans for the Fourth of July holiday, the weather outlook stated.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday proposed a new rule to address excessive heat in the workplace, warning — as tens of millions of people in the U.S. are under heat advisories — that high temperatures are the country’s leading weather-related killer.
If finalized, the measure would protect an estimated 36 million U.S. workers from injuries related to heat exposure on the job — establishing the first major federal safety standard of its kind. Those affected by excessive heat in the workplace include farmworkers, delivery and construction workers, landscapers and indoor workers in warehouses, factories and kitchens.
Biden highlighted the proposed rule as one of five steps his Democratic administration is taking to address extreme weather as Hurricane Beryl is already ripping through the Caribbean in an ominous sign for the summer.
Biden used his remarks at the D.C. Emergency Operations Center to blast those Republican lawmakers who deny the existence of climate change, saying, “It’s not only outrageous, it’s really stupid.” Biden noted that there are human and financial costs from climate change, saying that weather-inflicted damage last year cost the economy $90 billion.
“More people die from extreme heat than floods, hurricanes and tornadoes combined,” Biden said. “These climate fueled extreme weather events don’t just affect people’s lives. They also cost money. They hurt the economy, and they have a significant negative psychological effect on people.”
The Democratic president, who’s seeking reelection in part on his environmental record, said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was also finalizing a rule to factor in possible flooding risks for federal construction projects.
In addition, FEMA was announcing $1 billion in grants to help communities deal with natural disasters, while the Environmental Protection Agency was releasing a new report on climate change’s impacts. Lastly, Biden said his administration would hold a conference titled “White House Summit on Extreme Heat” in the coming months.
Despite increased awareness of the risks posed to human health by high temperatures, extreme heat protections — for those routinely exposed to heat index readings above 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius) — have lagged.
“The purpose of this rule is simple,” a senior White House administration official told reporters. “It is to significantly reduce the number of worker-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses suffered by workers who are exposed to excessive heat … while simply doing their jobs.”
Under the proposed rule, employers would be required to identify heat hazards, develop emergency response plans related to heat illness, and provide training to employees and supervisors on the signs and symptoms of such illnesses. They would also have to establish rest breaks, provide shade and water, and heat acclimatization — or the building of tolerance to higher temperatures — for new workers.
Penalties for heat-related violations in workplaces would increase significantly, in line with what workplaces are issued for violations of Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules, a senior White House administration official said.
An estimated 2,300 people in the U.S. died from heat-related illness in 2023. From 1992 to 2022, a total of 986 workers across all industry sectors in the U.S. died from exposure to heat, with construction accounting for about 34% of all occupational heat-related deaths, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. During that time, 334 construction workers died due to heat exposure on the job.
The Labor Department has been developing a standard for how workplaces deal with heat since 2021. Last year, OSHA held meetings to hear about how the proposed measures could affect small businesses.
The AFL-CIO union federation praised the measure. “If finalized, this new rule would address some of the most basic needs for workers’ health and safety,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler.
Heat protection laws in the U.S. have faced steady industry opposition, including from chambers of commerce and other business associations. Many say a blanket mandate would be difficult to implement across such a wide range of industries.
California, Colorado, Oregon, Minnesota and Washington are the only states with workplace standards for heat exposure. Over the past year, Florida and Texas, led by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Gov. Greg Abbott, both Republicans, passed legislation preventing local governments from requiring heat protections for outdoor workers.
If finalized, the Biden administration’s rule would override state standards, and states with existing procedures to deal with heat would have to institute measures at least as stringent as the finalized federal rule.
The OSHA plan was announced as the EPA released a new report on climate change indicators in the U.S. The report, last updated in 2012, highlights data showing the continuing and far-reaching impacts of climate change in the U.S. This year’s report adds heat-related workplace deaths and marine heat waves as climate change indicators.
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Associated Press writers Matthew Daly and Josh Boak contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
LIVONIA, Mich. — A tornado killed a 2-year-old boy and injured his mother Wednesday when a tree fell on their house in suburban Detroit, while emergency workers in Maryland were responding to reports of collapsed structures with people trapped inside after a tornado there.
Officials in Livonia, Michigan, said in a post on the city’s website that the quick-developing tornado struck several neighborhoods in the city on Wednesday afternoon.
A massive tree was uprooted and fell onto the family’s house and through the roof, landing on a bed where the woman and her 2-year-old were sleeping, officials said. Crews worked for nearly an hour to remove the roof and parts of the tree and then lift the tree to get the victims out.
The toddler was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. The mother was transported to a local hospital in critical condition.
A 2-week-old sibling who was in a crib in a separate room was not injured but taken to a hospital for an evaluation, Livonia Fire Department Chief Robert Johnson told WDIV-TV.
“This is a terrible tragedy for our community,” Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan said in the statement. “Our hearts are broken, too, and we send our deepest sympathies.”
The city of Livonia activates warning sirens based on notifications from the National Weather Service or tornado reports, officials said. However, Livonia Emergency Preparedness Director Brian Kahn said in the statement that the city did not receive any advance warning from the agency or others.
A representative from the weather service called it a spin-up storm that didn’t show up on their radars in enough time to issue a warning, according to city officials.
In the state of Maryland, emergency workers responded to reports that people were trapped inside structures that collapsed after a tornado was spotted in the area during rounds of strong storms Wednesday night.
A tornado was spotted in a suburban area of Montgomery County northwest of Washington, the National Weather Service said in a social media post warning people in the area to take cover.
There were reports of three collapsed structures in Gaithersburg with people trapped inside, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Pete Piringer said.
Piringer said the most significant damage occurred when a large tree fell on a single-family house in Gaithersburg, leaving five people injured, including one with traumatic injuries. He said they were all transported to a hospital.
Local television footage showed large downed trees that damaged houses when they fell.
Tornado warnings were still being issued throughout the state and in Delaware on Wednesday night.
In the latest round of storms, people in Texas have endured back-to-back days and nights of heavy rain, winds of up to 80 mph and the threat of tornadoes. The storms took down power lines, leaving 1 million people in the dark. Officials say it could take days to restore.
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Strong storms with damaging winds and baseball-sized hail pummeled Texas on Tuesday, leaving more than one million businesses and homes without power as much of the U.S. recovered from severe weather, including tornadoes, that killed at least 24 people in seven states during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Voters in the state’s runoff elections found some polling places without power. Roughly 100 voting sites in Dallas County were knocked offline. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins declared a disaster area and noted that some nursing homes were using generators. “This ultimately will be a multi-day power outage situation,” Jenkins said Tuesday.
More rough weather and heavy rains were forecast for the Dallas area Tuesday night. Heavy thunderstorms also were plowing toward Houston, where officials warned that winds as strong as 70 mph could cause damage less than two weeks after hurricane-force winds knocked out power to more than 800,000 homes and businesses.
Drivers navigate high water on Yale Street in the Heights after a strong storm blew in on May 28, 2024, in Houston, Texas.
Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
In the Midwest, an unusual weather phenomenon called a “gustnado” that looks like a small tornado brought some dramatic moments to a western Michigan lake over the weekend.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell will travel to Arkansas on Wednesday as the Biden administration continues assessing the damage from the weekend tornadoes.
Seven people, including two young children, were killed in Cooke County, Texas, from a tornado that tore through a mobile home park Saturday, officials said, and seven deaths were reported across Arkansas.
Two people died in Mayes County, Oklahoma, east of Tulsa, authorities said. The injured included guests at an outdoor wedding. A Missouri man died Sunday in Sikeston after a tree limb fell onto his tent as he was camping.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said five people had died in his state during storms that struck close to where a devastating swarm of twisters killed 81 people in December 2021. One family lost their home for a second time on the same lot where a twister leveled their house less than three years ago.
An 18-year-old woman was killed in North Carolina’s Clay County after a large tree landed on her trailer. Authorities also confirmed one death in Nelson County, Virginia.
In addition to the Memorial Day weekend death toll, in Magnolia, Texas, about 40 miles north of Houston, one person died Tuesday when a house under construction collapsed during a storm, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Severe weather and tornadoes moved through Kentucky on Sunday afternoon and Sunday night, May 26, 2024.
Ryan Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Roughly 150,000 homes and businesses lacked electricity midday Tuesday in Louisiana, Kentucky, Arkansas, West Virginia and Missouri.
It has been a grim month of tornadoes and severe weather in the nation’s midsection.
Tornadoes in Iowa last week left at least five people dead and dozens injured. Storms killed eight people in Houston earlier this month. April had the second-highest number of tornadoes on record in the country. The storms come as climate change contributes in general to the severity of storms around the world.
Late May is the peak of tornado season, but the recent storms have been exceptionally violent, producing very strong tornadoes, said Victor Gensini, a meteorology professor at Northern Illinois University.
“Over the weekend, we’ve had a lot of hot and humid air, a lot of gasoline, a lot of fuel for these storms. And we’ve had a really strong jet stream as well. That jet stream has been aiding in providing the wind shear necessary for these types of tornadoes,” Gensini said.
The exterior of the Veterans of Foreign Wars facility suffered severe damage following a tornado on May 23, 2024, in Temple, Texas.
BRANDON BELL / Getty Images
Harold Brooks, a senior scientist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma, said a persistent pattern of warm, moist air is to blame for the string of tornadoes over the past two months.
That air is at the northern edge of a heat dome bringing temperatures typically seen at the height of summer to late May.
The heat index — a combination of air temperature and humidity to indicate how the heat feels to the human body — reached triple digits in parts of south Texas and was expected to stay there for several days.
Powerful storms killed at least 22 people, injured hundreds and left a wide trail of destruction across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky, obliterating homes and destroying a truck stop where dozens sought shelter in a restroom during the latest deadly weather to strike the central U.S.
The storms inflicted their worst damage in a region spanning from north of Dallas to the northwest corner of Arkansas, and the system threatened to bring more violent weather to other parts of the Midwest. On Monday, forecasters said, the greatest risk would shift to the east, covering a broad swath of the country from Alabama to near New York City.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency early Monday in a post on social media platform X, citing “multiple reports of wind damage and tornadoes.”
Falling trees killed at least two people in Kentucky, authorities said. One death was confirmed in Mercer County early Monday — a person was pronounced dead inside and a second person was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The second such death was reported in Louisville, where a man was killed Sunday, police said. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenburg confirmed on social media it was a storm-related death.
Beshear confirmed two more storm-related deaths in a Monday morning news conference, and said one other individual is “fighting for their life.”
“We believe at least a few tornadoes touched down, including the one we know was on the ground for at least 40 miles,” he said. One family who lost their home in the 2021 tornados lost their home again last night, he said.
Seven deaths were reported in Valley View in Cooke County, Texas, near the Oklahoma border, where a tornado Saturday night plowed through a rural area near a mobile home park, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news conference Sunday. The dead included two children, ages 2 and 5, and three family members were found dead in one home, according to the county sheriff.
A man looks at a damaged car on May 26, 2024 after a tornado passed through the previous day in Valley View, Texas.
Julio Cortez / AP
Storms also killed two people and destroyed houses in Oklahoma, where the injured included guests at an outdoor wedding, and eight people in Arkansas.
As of 11:15 a.m. EDT, some 174,000 homes and businesses in Kentucky, 66,000 in West Virginia, 61,000 in Arkansas, 59,000 in Missouri, 6,000 in Texas and 3,000 in Oklahoma had no electricity, according to Poweroutage.us. Beshear warned Monday morning that some places could be without power for days, because of storm damage to power infrastructure.
In Texas, about 100 people were injured and more than 200 homes and structures destroyed, Abbott said, sitting in front of a ravaged truck stop near Valley View, a small agricultural community. The area was among the hardest-hit, with winds reaching an estimated 135 mph, officials said.
“The hopes and dreams of Texas families and small businesses have literally been crushed by storm after storm,” said Abbott, whose state has seen successive bouts of severe weather, including storms that killed eight people in Houston earlier this month.
Damage is seen on May 26, 2024 at a truck stop the morning after a tornado rolled through Valley View, Texas.
Julio Cortez / AP
Abbot signed an amended severe weather disaster declaration Sunday to include Denton, Montague, Cooke and Collin on a list of counties already under a disaster declaration sparked by storms and flooding in late April.
Hugo Parra, who lives in Farmers Branch, north of Dallas, said he rode out the storm with 40 to 50 people in the bathroom of the truck stop. The storm sheared the roof and walls off the building, mangling metal beams and leaving battered cars in the parking lot.
“A firefighter came to check on us and he said, ‘You’re very lucky,’” Parra said. “The best way to describe this is the wind tried to rip us out of the bathrooms.”
Multiple people were transported to hospitals by ambulance and helicopter in Denton County, also north of Dallas.
No more deaths were expected and no one was reported missing in Texas, Abbott said, though responders were doing one more round of searches just in case.
The newspaper said the tornado flipped Amber Bryan’s RV, trapping her inside. side. “Thank God, just got some bruises, nothing broken,” the paper quotes her as saying. “Everything happened so fast. I just said, ‘Lord wrap your arms around me and my pets and get us through this.’”
A vehicle rests on a tree after a deadly tornado rolled through the previous night, on May 26, 2024, in Valley View, Texas.
Eight people died statewide in Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed in a news conference Sunday evening. An emergency official said two were attributed to the circumstances related to the storm but not directly caused by weather, including a person who suffered a heart attack and another who was deprived of oxygen due to a loss of electricity.
The deaths included a 26-year-old woman whose body was found outside a destroyed home in Olvey, a small community in Boone County, according to Daniel Bolen of the county’s emergency management office. One person died in Benton County, and two more bodies were found in Marion County, officials said.
In Oklahoma, two people died in Mayes County, east of Tulsa, officials said.
Climate change and history-making weather
The destruction continued a grim month of deadly severe weather in the nation’s midsection.
The deadly twisters have spawned during a historically bad season for tornadoes, at a time when climate change contributes to the severity of storms around the world. April had the second-highest number of tornadoes on record in the country.
Meteorologists and authorities issued urgent warnings to seek cover as the storms marched across the region late Saturday and into Sunday. “If you are in the path of this storm take cover now!” the National Weather Service office in Norman, Oklahoma, posted on X.
Harold Brooks, a senior scientist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, said a persistent pattern of warm, moist air is to blame for the string of tornadoes over the past two months.
Residents awoke Sunday to overturned cars and collapsed garages. Some residents could be seen pacing and assessing the damage. Nearby, neighbors sat on the foundation of a wrecked home.
In Valley View, near the truck stop, the storms ripped the roofs off homes and blew out windows. Clothing, insulation, bits of plastic and other pieces of debris were wrapped around miles of barbed wire fence line surrounding grazing land in the rural area.
Kevin Dorantes, 20, was in nearby Carrollton when he learned the tornado was bearing down on the Valley View neighborhood where he lived with his father and brother. He called the two of them and told them to take cover in the windowless bathroom, where they rode out the storm and survived unharmed.
As Dorantes wandered through the neighborhood of downed power lines and devastated houses, he came upon a family whose home was reduced to a pile of splintered rubble. A father and son were trapped under debris and friends and neighbors raced to get them out, Dorantes said.
“They were conscious but severely injured,” Dorantes said.
Inaccessible roads and downed power lines in Oklahoma also led officials in the town of Claremore, near Tulsa, to announce on social media that the city was “shut down” due to the damage.
The system causing the latest severe weather was expected to move east over the rest of the holiday weekend.
The Indianapolis 500 started four hours late after a strong storm pushed into the area, forcing Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials to evacuate about 125,000 race fans.
More severe storms were predicted in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee.
The risk of severe weather moves into North Carolina and Virginia on Monday, forecasters said.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Forecasters warned of another day of heightened risk of dangerous tornadoes in the Midwest on Saturday and told people in South Texas they could experience triple-digit temperatures — and that’s with four weeks to go before summer starts.
The weather service in Oklahoma compared the day to “ a gasoline-soaked brush pile.” Forecasters aren’t certain storms will form, but any that do could explode with large hail, dangerous winds and tornadoes.
“There’s a small chance most of the matches are duds and we only see a few storms today. Still, that’s not a match I would want to play with. It only takes one storm to be impactful,” the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, wrote on Facebook.
Excessive heat, especially for May, is the danger in South Texas, where the heat index is forecast to approach near 120 degrees F (49 degrees C) during the weekend. The region is on the north end of a heat dome that stretches from Mexico to South America, National Weather Service meteorologist Zack Taylor said.
Sunday looks like the hottest day with record-setting highs for late May forecast for Austin, Brownsville, Dallas and San Antonio, Taylor said.
The temperature was approaching 90 degrees F (32 degrees) and the heat index was 104 F (40 C) in Brownsville on the U.S./Mexico border by midmorning Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
Red Flag fire warnings are also in place in west Texas, all of New Mexico and parts of Oklahoma, Arizona and Colorado, where very low humidity of below 10%, wind gusts of up to 60 mph (97 kph) combine with the hot temperatures.
“We’ve got very dry air, warm temperatures and strong winds creating a high fire danger over a wide area … that can lead to rapidly spreading or uncontrollable fires,” Taylor said.
Meanwhile, several inches of snow fell Friday into early Saturday in Rolla, North Dakota, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Canadian border.
April and May have been a busy month for tornadoes, especially in the Midwest. Climate change is heightening the severity of storms around the world.
April had the country’s second-highest number of tornadoes on record. And in 2024, the U.S. is already 25% ahead of the average number of twisters, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
Iowa has been the hardest hit so far this week. A deadly twister devastated Greenfield. And other storms brought flooding and wind damage elsewhere in the state.
The storm system causing the severe weather is expected to move east as the Memorial Day weekend continues, bringing rain that could delay the Indianapolis 500 auto race Sunday in Indiana and more severe storms in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky.
The risk of severe weather moves into North Carolina and Virginia on Monday, forecasters said.
GREENFIELD, Iowa — For block after block through the small city of Greenfield, the destructive power of an EF-4 tornado that ripped apart more than 100 of the town’s homes in just one minute is evident in the muddy, shattered mess left behind.
All along the milelong swath Thursday was the deafening clamor of heavy equipment scooping up the splintered homes, smashed vehicles and shredded trees. But on either side of that path, picturesque houses and lawns seem untouched, and one might be hard-pressed to believe a twister packing peak winds of 175 to 185 mph had ravaged the community of 2,000, killing four people and injuring at least 35.
More than 202 homes were destroyed by a series of tornadoes that raked the state on Tuesday, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Thursday at a news conference. Most were in and around Greenfield. The count does not include businesses or other buildings destroyed or damaged, like Greenfield’s 25-bed hospital.
The havoc spun by the tornado now shows on the faces of people still processing how quickly homes and lives were shattered.
Among those killed were Dean and Pam Wiggins, said their grandson Tom Wiggins.
On Thursday, Tom Wiggins tried to find any of his grandparents’ mementos that remained after the tornado demolished their home, leaving little more than the structure’s foundation. He described them as “incredibly loved by not only our family but the entire town.”
Not far away, Bill Yount, 64, also was cleaning up.
“It’s like somebody took a bomb,” said Yount, gesturing to the land — covered with wood, debris, trees stripped of their leaves, heavy machinery and equipment to clean up the mess.
Yount’s house was the only one “that really survived. and I don’t know why,” Yount said, pointing to the devastated remains of his neighbors’ homes.
Also surveying the damage was 80-year-old Edith Schaecher, who was briefly trapped in her collapsed house with her daughter until neighbors helped them out. They sought shelter in a basement concrete shower, holding pillows over their heads to protect from the falling debris.
“It was over within probably 30 seconds,” she said, destroying the home where she had lived for 47 years.
Schaecher’s neighbor, Joan Mitchell, was with her 57-year-old son in the home she’d lived in for 10 years when the tornado roared through.
She had ignored the tornado warnings — until she was knocked to the floor and two recliners flew on top of her.
“I kept praying and praying, and after that I started hollering, ‘Help! Help! Help!’” Mitchell recalled. Both she and her son survived with bumps and bruises.
The governor praised the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response on Thursday as she sought a disaster declaration for multiple counties. After surveying Tuesday’s destruction, the National Weather Service determined that three separate powerful tornados carved paths totaling 130 miles (209.21 kilometers) across Iowa, according to Donna Dubberke, the meteorologist in charge in Des Moines.
Colton Newbury, 24, was working in Des Moines when the twister hit, nearly 60 miles away from his wife and 10-month-old daughter at their home in Greenfield.
He rushed back only to find their home was “a hole in the ground,” he said. His wife hadn’t heard the sirens. Newbury said his cousin ran out to get his wife and baby, and they rode out the tornado in the cousin’s basement. The winds pulled entire homes away, he said: “About every house on the block, just foundations left.”
Still more severe weather was moving across the Midwest. The weather service’s Storm Prediction Center shows an enhanced severe storm risk late Thursday into Friday morning for much of Nebraska and western Iowa, including areas where tornadoes hit Iowa and hurricane-force winds, large hail and torrential rain flooded streets and basements in Nebraska.
This latest band of severe weather — including possible tornadoes — will hit Iowa “when people are sleeping,” warned NWS meteorologist Andrew Ansorge of Des Moines.
“Because of the damage already there, it won’t take much wind to inflict even more damage on these homes,” Ansorge said. “It’s just a bad deal all the way around.”
More severe weather also could hit Saturday and Sunday in storm-damaged parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. An emergency was declared in Temple, Texas, after powerful storms ripped through the city of more than 90,000. Thousands lost power, Thursday’s classes were canceled and nearby Fort Cavazos reported debris blocking traffic at the Army installation.
The Greenfield tornado, initially rated an EF-3, was identified Thursday as the third EF4 tornado of 2024, with the first in Marietta-Lake Murray, Oklahoma, in April and the second in Barnsdall, Oklahoma, earlier this month. On average, there are three or four EF4 tornadoes a year with a record high of 13 in 2011, according to Storm Prediction Center Warning Coordination Meteorologist Matt Elliott.
It was so destructive that it took authorities more than a day to account for the area’s residents, and Iowa’s Department of Public Safety said the number of injured is likely even higher. Officials haven’t yet released the names of the Greenfield victims.
A fifth person was killed Tuesday about 25 miles from Greenfield when her car was blown off the road in a tornado, according to the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. Monica Zamarron, 46, died in the crash Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
Reynolds has requested an expedited presidential disaster declaration for those Iowa counties that sustained significant damage. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell joined her at the news conference in Greenfield and said that her agency will process the request as quickly as possible to get resources — which could include funding for temporary housing — to those left without homes.
This is a historically busy tornado season in the U.S., in an era when climate change is heightening the severity of storms around the world. April had the country’s second-highest number of tornadoes on record.
Through Tuesday, 859 tornadoes had been confirmed this year, 27% more than the U.S. sees on average, according to NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. Iowa has recorded the most, with 81 confirmed twisters.
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By HANNAH FINGERHUT and MARGERY A. BECK – Associated Press
Severe storms tore through the central and southeast U.S. late Tuesday and Wednesday, spawning damaging tornadoes, producing massive hail, and killing two people in Tennessee and another in North Carolina.
The storm that rumbled across northeastern Tennessee brought high winds that knocked down powerlines and trees. Claiborne County Sheriff Bob Brooks said a 22-year-old man was in a car struck by one of the trees. Claiborne County Mayor Joe Brooks also confirmed the death in a social media post.
Wednesday afternoon, a tornado emergency — the National Weather Service’s highest alert level — was issued for an area south of Nashville including the towns of Spring Hill, Chapel Hill and Eagleville.
The National Weather Service had previously reported a likely tornado on the ground in nearby Columbia, about 45 miles south of Nashville.
Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder confirmed in a statement at least one person died because of the storm, but no details on the cause of death were immediately provided.
Molder said there was a “number of sightings of confirmed tornado touch-downs” in the area that resulted in “bodily injuries and property damage.”
Rita Thompson, Marketing & Communications director with Maury Regional Health, said the hospital had received five patients. One died, another was in serious condition and three had injuries that were not life-threatening.
The Maury County Office of Emergency Management in a statement urged “everyone to stay out of the areas hit” by the storm, adding that all schools in the county, which includes the city of Columbia, would be closed Thursday.
Northeast of Nashville, a flash flood emergency was issued for Sumner and Robertson counties including the cities of Hendersonville and Gallatin. The National Weather Service said water rescues were ongoing in those areas and described the flooding from heavy thunderstorms as life-threatening.
“Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order,” the weather agency alert said.
The National Weather Service in Nashville on Wednesday evening issued a tornado watch for parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee until 3 a.m. CDT. The weather service continued issuing tornado warnings into the night, mostly in Tennessee, but also in Missouri, Alabama, Georgia and Texas.
In North Carolina, a state of emergency was declared for Gaston County Wednesday evening following a large storm. First responders were working to clear roads of downed power lines and broken trees and were helping residents, officials said. The New Hope Fire Department responded to a tree down on a car. One person in the car was killed and another was taken to a hospital, officials said.
More than 152,000 customers were without power in North Carolina and Tennessee Wednesday night, according to utility tracker PowerOutage.us.
The Crowder family surveys their home destroyed by a tornado on May 7, 2024, in Barnsdall, Oklahoma. The EF3 twister that struck claimed one life and destroyed dozens of homes in the community of just over 1,000 people.
Brandon Bell / Getty Images
The National Weather Service confirmed tornadoes touched down Tuesday in western Ohio: five in Warren County and one each in Darke, Mercer and Auglaize counties. The weather service said crews are still surveying areas of Franklin and Butler counties to determine if tornadoes struck there, as well. Radar indicated a tornado struck Jefferson County, but teams will have to evaluate the damage to determine its rating, said Jeff Craven, a weather service meteorologist in Pittsburgh.
Crews on Wednesday were able to survey the damage caused by the strong storms that contained hail and heavy rains and knocked out power to thousands of utility customers.
In Michigan, weather service meteorologist Nathan Jeruzal said the tornadoes there touched down one each in Kalamazoo, Cass and Branch counties — all in the southwestern part of the state. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for four counties.
Kalamazoo County’s Portage area was hard hit as a FedEx facility was ripped apart and more than a dozen mobile homes were destroyed. About 50 people temporarily were trapped inside the damaged facility because of downed power lines.
More than a dozen homes were destroyed in a mobile home park in adjacent Pavilion Township and 16 people were injured, said Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller.
Samantha Smith clutched a box Wednesday afternoon as she stepped from her mother’s partially wrecked home in Pavilion Township, about 137 miles west of Detroit. Inside the box were her grandmother’s ashes. Being able to recover the most cherished of items offered Smith a rare moment of relief amid the storm’s devastation.
Her parents and brother were injured during the storm but survived.
“I have thanked God probably a billion times since this happened yesterday,” she said. “My kids are healthy and good. We just gotta make back up what we lost.”
Travis Wycoff ventured out Tuesday night after seeing on radar that a tornado had touched down in the Portage area, and he said he helped an elderly couple out of their partially collapsed home and freed a service dog from a home.
“There were a lot of people running through the streets trying to find people and their pets,” Wycoff said. “It was just a lot of chaos.”
In southern Indiana, the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down early Wednesday, damaging homes in a subdivision north of the city of Sellersburg, located about 12 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky.
The Clark County Emergency Management Agency said the storm damaged 24 structures.
Candice Holmes, a resident of the Lewis & Clark subdivision north of Sellersburg, said she, her husband and son sought shelter in their bathroom when they heard the approaching storm and “the wind just picked up all at once.”
“It was definitely a scary moment. … And I’m glad we’re alive,” Holmes told WDRB-TV.
Tornadoes were also confirmed in Pennsylvania just outside Pittsburgh, in central Arkansas and in northern West Virginia. The West Virginia twister, which started early Wednesday in far eastern Ohio, was at least the 11th tornado this year in the state that sees two tornadoes in an average year.
Baseball-sized hail was reported Wednesday in areas just southwest of St. Louis, Missouri. Heavy downpours caused flash flooding and at least one water rescue near Sullivan, a town that was struck by a small tornado just two days earlier. Damaging hail also was reported in the Kansas City area.
Tuesday’s storms came a day after parts of the central U.S. were battered by heavy rain, strong winds, hail and twisters. Both the Plains and Midwest have been hammered by tornadoes this spring.
Across the U.S., the entire week is looking stormy. The Midwest and the South are expected to get the brunt of the bad weather through the rest of the week, including in Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis and Cincinnati — cities where more than 21 million people live. It should be clear over the weekend.
Several tornadoes hit Michigan on Tuesday evening, tearing through a FedEx building in one area and trapping several people, according to several news outlets.In the city of Portage, about 7 miles south of Kalamazoo, a FedEx building partially collapsed after a tornado rolled through the area Tuesday evening. Spokespersons with Kalamazoo County told local media outlets and the Washington Post that about 50 people remained trapped inside that building Tuesday night. A FedEx spokesperson told the Associated Press there were no serious injuries despite the severe damage.According to MLive, downed wires in the building were being removed before first responders could rescue people inside. Officials told MLive that it’s still an active scene. Elsewhere in Michigan, Union City was under a tornado emergency that went into effect just after 6 p.m. ET, when “a large and destructive tornado” was over the city, about 10 miles northwest of Coldwater and moving northeast at 45 mph, according to the National Weather Service.Emergency responders’ radios crackled with reports of possible destruction as the intense storms pushed through. Photos on social media have shown some damage to buildings.In Branch County, about 60 miles south of Kalamazoo, at least seven homes were destroyed, according to Emergency Management Director Tim Miner, who added he was unable to get out and assess damage to other parts of the county.“Severe storms are still tracking between Kalamazoo and Jackson. Tornadoes and large hail are the main threats,” the National Weather Service Grand Rapids said.Officials in Portage pleaded with its residents to “stay home” and “please stay off the roads. First responders are stuck in gridlock.”Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said her heart was going out to people in southwest Michigan. “Emergency teams are on the ground and working to assist Michiganders. I encourage everyone to continue monitoring severe weather alerts and follow the advice of emergency officials,” the governor said.Video below: Tornado rips through Michigan strip mallTornadoes were spotted after dark Tuesday in parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, while portions of Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri were also under a tornado watch, according to the National Weather Service.The severe weather came a day after destructive storms roared through the Plains Monday, unloading at least one deadly tornado, giant hail and hurricane-force wind gusts. As some communities pick up the pieces, others had been preparing Tuesday for the threat of strong twisters in the Midwest.The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Several tornadoes hit Michigan on Tuesday evening, tearing through a FedEx building in one area and trapping several people, according to several news outlets.
In the city of Portage, about 7 miles south of Kalamazoo, a FedEx building partially collapsed after a tornado rolled through the area Tuesday evening. Spokespersons with Kalamazoo County told local media outlets and the Washington Post that about 50 people remained trapped inside that building Tuesday night.
A FedEx spokesperson told the Associated Press there were no serious injuries despite the severe damage.
According to MLive, downed wires in the building were being removed before first responders could rescue people inside. Officials told MLive that it’s still an active scene.
Elsewhere in Michigan, Union City was under a tornado emergency that went into effect just after 6 p.m. ET, when “a large and destructive tornado” was over the city, about 10 miles northwest of Coldwater and moving northeast at 45 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
Emergency responders’ radios crackled with reports of possible destruction as the intense storms pushed through. Photos on social media have shown some damage to buildings.
Courtesy Alex Melendez
This photo taken by Alex Melendez shows a FedEx facility after tornadoes tore through the area of Portage, Michigan, south of Kalamazoo.
In Branch County, about 60 miles south of Kalamazoo, at least seven homes were destroyed, according to Emergency Management Director Tim Miner, who added he was unable to get out and assess damage to other parts of the county.
“Severe storms are still tracking between Kalamazoo and Jackson. Tornadoes and large hail are the main threats,” the National Weather Service Grand Rapids said.
Officials in Portage pleaded with its residents to “stay home” and “please stay off the roads. First responders are stuck in gridlock.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said her heart was going out to people in southwest Michigan. “Emergency teams are on the ground and working to assist Michiganders. I encourage everyone to continue monitoring severe weather alerts and follow the advice of emergency officials,” the governor said.
Video below: Tornado rips through Michigan strip mall
Tornadoes were spotted after dark Tuesday in parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, while portions of Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri were also under a tornado watch, according to the National Weather Service.
The severe weather came a day after destructive storms roared through the Plains Monday, unloading at least one deadly tornado, giant hail and hurricane-force wind gusts. As some communities pick up the pieces, others had been preparing Tuesday for the threat of strong twisters in the Midwest.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Weather forecasters warned residents in several Midwest states on Tuesday to brace for dangerous storms, one day after a powerful twister roared through a small Oklahoma town, killing at least one person and destroying dozens of homes.
A tornado watch was issued Tuesday afternoon for portions of northeast Indiana, southern Michigan and northwest Ohio with the possibility of tornadoes, large hail and wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour. Tuesday’s storms were not expected to pose as intense a threat, said Roger Edwards, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center.
The tornado that touched down Monday night in Oklahoma, one of several twisters that erupted in the central United States, ripped through the 1,000-person town of Barnsdall, about a 40-minute drive north of Tulsa. The National Weather Service there had warned Monday evening that “a large and life-threatening tornado” was headed toward Barnsdall, with wind gusts up to 70 mph. It was the second tornado to hit the town in five weeks — a twister on April 1 with maximum wind speeds of 90 to 100 mph damaged homes and blew down trees and power poles in Barnsdall.
The Storm Prediction Center cited 17 reports of tornadoes from Monday evening through early Tuesday in the central part of the United States. Eight of the twisters were in Oklahoma, two each in Kansas, South Dakota and Iowa, and one each in Nebraska, Missouri and Tennessee. The powerful storms come amid a wild swing in severe weather across the globe that includes some of the worst-ever flooding in Brazil and a brutal Asian heat wave.
At least 30 to 40 homes in the Barnsdall area were damaged Monday night, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported, and a nursing home said it evacuated residents because a gas leak could not be turned off due to storm damage.
One person died in the town and one man is missing, Barnsdall Mayor Johnny Kelley said.
“There are several homes destroyed, completely leveled,” he said. “The toughest thing on me as the mayor is this is a small community. I know 75% to 80% of the people in this town.”
First responders rescued about 25 people, including children, from heavily damaged homes where buildings had collapsed on or around them, Kelley said. About a half dozen people suffered injuries, including a firefighter who was taken to a hospital with chest pains, he said.
Authorities launched a secondary search Tuesday morning to find one man who was still missing, Kelley said.
The Barnsdall Nursing Home posted online that all residents were accounted for with no injuries. They were being taken to other facilities. It asked families to bear with them “as it is chaos in town … Please pray for us.”
Aerial videos from Barnsdall showed several well-built homes reduced to piles of rubble and others with roofs torn off and damaged walls still standing. The powerful twister tossed vehicles, downed power lines and stripped limbs and bark from trees across the town. A 160-acre wax manufacturing facility in the community also sustained heavy damage, Kelley said.
Gov. Kevin Stitt, who toured the damage on Tuesday, said the tornado was rated by weather researchers as an EF4, which is described as a violent tornado with wind speeds up to 200 mph. Stitt said he and legislative leaders have agreed to set aside $45 million in this year’s budget to help storm-damaged communities.
“Oklahomans are resilient, and we’re going to rebuild,” Stitt said.
Damage also was reported in Bartlesville, about 20 miles northeast.
At the Hampton Inn in Bartlesville, several splintered 2x4s were driven into the south side of the building. Chunks of insulation, twisted metal and other debris was scattered over the hotel’s lawn, and vehicles in the parking lot were heavily damaged with smashed-out windows.
Matthew Macedo, 30, who was staying at the hotel, said he rushed with his coworker to the hotel lobby after hearing the tornado sirens and was then ushered into the hotel laundry room to wait out the storm.
“We lost power. … That’s kind of the first indicator that things were real,” he said. “When the impact occurred, it was incredibly sudden.”
The weather soured earlier Monday, bringing gusty winds and rain. But after dark, tornadoes were spotted skirting northern Oklahoma. At one point in the evening, a storm in the small town of Covington had “produced tornadoes off and on for over an hour,” the National Weather Service said. Throughout the area, wind farm turbines spun rapidly in the wind and blinding rain.
The storms tore through Oklahoma as areas, including Sulphur and Holdenville, were still recovering from a tornado that killed four and left thousands without power late last month. Both the Plains and Midwest have been hammered by tornadoes this spring.
Oklahoma and Kansas had been under a high-risk weather warning Monday. The last time such a warning was issued was March 31, 2023, when a massive storm system tore through parts of the South and Midwest including Arkansas, Illinois and rural Indiana.
The entire week is looking stormy across the U.S. The eastern U.S. and the South are expected to get the brunt of the bad weather through the rest of the week, including in Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis and Cincinnati, cities where more than 21 million people live. It should be clear over the weekend.
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By ALEXA ST. JOHN, SEAN MURPHY and JIM SALTER – Associated Press
Tornadoes touched down Monday evening in rural Oklahoma and large hail pelted parts of Kansas as an outbreak of dangerous storms brought the possibility of strong twisters staying on the ground for many miles.
Forecasters have issued a rare high-risk weather warning for the two states, the first for Oklahoma in five years.
“You can’t rely on waiting to see tornadoes before sheltering tonight,” the National Weather Service said.
Oklahoma was under a Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) watch, the second in just nine days. The PDS watch in the state last month resulted four deaths and 22 confirmed tornadoes.
At least four tornadoes had been spotted in north central Oklahoma, including one about a 45-minute drive north of Tulsa. The National Weather Service office there issued a tornado emergency alert Monday night for the nearby towns of Bartlesville, Dewey and Barnsdall.
The Weather Service warned “a large and life-threatening tornado” was headed toward those towns, with wind gusts up to 70 mph.
Other tornadoes had been spotted earlier in the evening near the 1,000-person town of Okeene, while another storm in Covington had “produced tornadoes off and on for over an hour.”
The greatest risk of damaging weather includes areas in Oklahoma, such as Sulphur and Holdenville, still recovering from a tornado that killed four and left thousands without power late last month. Both the Plains and Midwest have been hammered by tornadoes this spring.
A dispatcher for Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, said there was a report of tornado damage to a single home, but it wasn’t immediately known if anyone was in the home or if anyone was hurt. Throughout the area, wind farm turbines spun rapidly in the wind and blinding rain.
Meanwhile, apple-sized hail of 3 inches in diameter was reported near Ellinwood, Kansas, a town of about 2,000 residents 100 miles northwest of Wichita.
The Weather Service said that more than 3.4 million people, 1,614 schools and 159 hospitals in Oklahoma, portions of southern Kansas and far north Texas, face the most severe threat for tornadoes.
Schools and colleges across the state, including the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City Public Schools and several metro-area school districts, shut down early and canceled late afternoon and evening classes and activities.
Oklahoma’s State Emergency Operations Center, which coordinates storm response from a bunker near the state Capitol, remains activated from last weekend’s deadly storms, and the state’s commissioner of public safety told state agencies to let most of their workers across Oklahoma leave early on Monday.
Monte Tucker, a farmer and rancher in the far western Oklahoma town of Sweetwater, spent Monday putting some of his tractors and heavy equipment in barns to protect it from hail and letting his neighbors know they can come to his house if the weather becomes dangerous.
“We built a house 10 years ago, and my stubborn wife put her foot down and made sure we built a safe room,” Tucker said. He said the entire ground-level room is built with reinforced concrete walls.
Bill Bunting, deputy director of the Storm Prediction Center, said a high risk from the center is not something seen every day or every spring.
“It’s the highest level of threat we can assign. And it’s a day to take very, very seriously,” he said.
The last time a high risk was issued was March 31, 2023, when a massive storm system tore through parts of the South and Midwest including Arkansas, Illinois and rural Indiana.
The risk on Monday in parts of the southern Plains is the worst in five years, AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said.
“If you look at a meteorology textbook about how to get a significant tornado outbreak in the southern Plains, all the ingredients you need are here today,” Porter said.
The number of storms and their intensity should increase quickly in the evening hours across western parts of Oklahoma and up into south-central Kansas, Bunting said.
“The kinds of tornadoes that this storm can produce are particularly intense, and they can be long-lasting,” Porter said. “These are the tornadoes that sometimes can last for 45 minutes or an hour, even more, creating paths of destruction as they move along.”
The high risk is due to an unusual confluence: Winds gusting up to around 75 mph have been blasting through Colorado’s populated Front Range region, including the Denver area, on Monday.
The winds are being created by a low pressure system north of Colorado that is also pulling up moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, fueling the risk of severe weather on the Plains, said Greg Heavener, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Denver-area office.
Colorado is not at risk of tornadoes or thunderstorms, he said.
The dangerous Plains weather will move east, potentially creating overnight risk in places like Kansas City and Springfield in Missouri through early Tuesday, Porter said.
“This is not going to be a atmospheric setup where the sun is going to go down and the thunderstorms are going to wane and there’s going to be no additional risk,” noted Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini.
The entire week is looking stormy across the U.S. The eastern U.S. and the South are expected to get the brunt of the bad weather through the rest of the week, including in Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis and Cincinnati, where more than 21 million people live. It should be clear over the weekend.
Meanwhile, floodwaters in the Houston area began receding Monday after days of heavy rain in southeastern Texas left neighborhoods flooded and led to hundreds of high-water rescues.
A tornado touched down in the city of Hawley, Texas, late Thursday, destroying several homes. One family whose young son was injured described the life-threatening ordeal. Omar Villafranca reports.
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