At least five people were killed and dozens injured when a suspected tornado struck an area north of Dallas, Texas, on Saturday night, according to law enforcement officials.
Cook County Sheriff Ray Sappington told WFAA that children were among the dead, and that at least two children are still missing.
Sheriff Sappington told The Associated Press that the five people killed included a family of three whose bodies were found in a home near Valley View, a rural town near the Oklahoma border.
“Five people have been confirmed dead, but sadly that number will likely rise,” Mr Sappington said. “There’s nothing left of this house, just a trail of rubble. The damage is pretty severe.”
The sheriff said the storm struck a roadside travel center near Valley View, Texas, before moving through a community of manufactured homes.
Forecasters issued tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of both states as several heatwave records were broken during the day in South Texas and residents received triple-digit temperature warnings over the holiday weekend.
A tornado ripped through northern Denton County, Texas, late Saturday, overturning a tractor-trailer and shutting down traffic on Interstate 35, Denton County Community Relations Director Dawn Cobb said in a statement.
Cobb said the tornado was spotted near Valley View and was moving east at 40 miles per hour, and the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for northern Denton County.
Cobb said the storm damaged homes, overturned campers and downed power lines and trees throughout the area, including Sanger, Pilot Point, Ray Roberts Lake and Isle Du Bois State Park.
Cobb said people injured in the storm were taken by ground and air ambulances to area hospitals, but it was not immediately clear how many people were injured in the county. Meanwhile, evacuation shelters have been opened in Sanger.
The fire department in Denton, Texas, about 37 miles (59.5 kilometers) north of Fort Worth, posted on Twitter that emergency crews were responding to the marina with “multiple reported victims, some trapped.”
Police in Claremore, Oklahoma, about 28 miles (45 kilometers) east of Tulsa, said on social media that the city was “closed” due to storm damage, including downed power lines, trees and impassable roads.
Early Saturday night, the National Weather Service office in Norman, Oklahoma, announced via social platform X that the warning was in effect for northern Noble County and southern Kay County, north of Oklahoma City. “If you’re in the path of this storm, evacuate now!” the agency said.
The 10:05 p.m. post warned that the storm had left the area, but that storms moving across North Texas could affect parts of south-central Oklahoma.
At 10:24 p.m., the Fort Worth National Weather Service posted a message warning residents of Ella and Valley View to evacuate immediately because they may be in the direct path of the tornado. The Fort Worth weather service continued posting storm tracking notices and evacuation warnings until late at night, and issued a separate severe thunderstorm warning with the possibility of golf-ball-sized hail.
The National Weather Service in Tulsa, Oklahoma, warned that dangerous storms would move across the northeastern part of the state by 2 a.m. and issued severe thunderstorm watches for Hugo, Boswell, Fort Towson, Graynola, Foraker and Heard areas.
South Texas is experiencing dangerously hot weather, especially for May, with heat indexes expected to approach 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius) in some places over the weekend. While actual temperatures will be lower, they will still reach the 30s Fahrenheit and, with high humidity, will feel even hotter.
April and May were busy months for tornadoes, especially in the Midwest, as climate change increases the intensity of storms around the world.
April was the second-most tornado-prone month on record in the US, and so far in 2024, the US is already seeing 25% more tornadoes than average, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman.
Iowa was hit hard last week when a deadly tornado devastated Greenfield, and other storms caused flooding and wind damage in other parts of the state.
The severe weather storm is expected to move east as the Memorial Day weekend continues, dumping rain that could postpone the Indianapolis 500 race in Indiana on Sunday and bringing more severe storms to Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky.
Forecasters said the risk of severe weather will move into North Carolina and Virginia on Monday.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
AP News contributed to this report.
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