Photo: Julio Cortez Associated Press After escaping the tornado, Juana Landeros collects items from her destroyed home on May 26, 2024, in Valley View, Texas.
France Media Agency in Washington
Posted at 10:04 a.m.
- United States
The death toll from tornadoes and other violent storms in the southern United States rose further to at least 19 deaths according to authorities on Monday, as these bad weather moves towards the east of the country.
Since Saturday, tornadoes have swept across the Great Plains of the south of the country, starting from north Texas and moving eastward, blowing away many buildings and infrastructure in their path.
This weather continues to move towards the Atlantic coast. “Significant thunderstorms” and possible “isolated tornadoes” are expected Monday afternoon from the Great Lakes region to the southeast, according to the U.S. Weather Service (NWS).
Sunday evening, several tornadoes touched down in rural western Kentucky according to the NWS, which indicates for example here “trees fell on many roads, making travel impossible”, or, here, damage to around twenty houses.
One person died in Louisville, a large city in the state, according to its mayor. Another died after a tree fell on her house, Mercer County said in a statement sent to AFP.
Impressive images from tornado chasers in the region show these whirlwinds coming from the sky sending sections of roof into the air and causing sparks on power lines.
Others exhibit houses of which only the foundations remain, the partitions on the ground, a sofa remaining standing in the middle of the debris.
In northwest Arkansas, a total of eight people died due to bad weather, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas agency told AFP on Monday morning. State for emergency situations.
Late Saturday evening in north Texas, a tornado killed at least seven people according to the sheriff, and two people died in western Oklahoma due to another tornado.
On Sunday, bad weather delayed the start of the legendary Indianapolis 500 mile car race by a few hours.
As of Monday morning, more than 650,000 homes were without electricity in the central and eastern parts of the country, particularly in Kentucky, according to the poweroutage.us website.
Tornadoes, a meteorological phenomenon as impressive as it is difficult to predict, are relatively frequent in the United States, particularly in the center and south of the country.