Tornado-spawning thunderstorms that swept the Southern Plains and the Ozark Mountains have killed at least 21 people across four U.S. states as of Monday afternoon and wrecked hundreds of buildings.
Forecasters have warned of more severe weather ahead.
The death toll over the three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend included at least eight fatalities in Arkansas, seven in Texas, four in Kentucky, and two in Oklahoma, according to state emergency authorities.
A severe thunderstorm watch was issued for parts of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania until Monday evening, the National Weather Service said.
This watch affected more than 30 million people in the Northeast, as the storms were expected to move toward the East Coast.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency early on Monday.
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the Atlanta area, other parts of Georgia, and several western South Carolina counties until at least Monday afternoon.
“It was a tough night for our people,” Beshear posted on social media platform X on Monday.
He later said in a press briefing that devastating storms had hit almost the entire state, damaging 100 state highways and roads.
At least seven people perished – including a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old from a family – and nearly 100 were injured on Saturday night when a powerful tornado struck communities in North Texas near the Oklahoma border, Governor Greg Abbott told a Sunday news conference.
Late on Sunday, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at least eight people died in her state after the storms.
An Arkansan suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease died due to a lack of oxygen when the power went out.
President Joe Biden offered condolences for the lives lost when he spoke on Monday with Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and Governors Abbott and Sanders, the White House said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was on the ground conducting damage assessments with state and local counterparts, and Biden directed federal agencies to provide support as needed.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans were without power on Monday due to the weather, according to the PowerOutage.US tracking website. In Kentucky alone, more than 160,000 customers lacked electricity.
Restoring power in some areas could take days, Governor Beshear said.
The weather service warned that additional storms would move through the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, bringing damaging winds, large hail, more tornadoes, and heavy downpours capable of triggering flash floods.
This extreme weather comes just days after a powerful tornado ripped through an Iowa town, killing four people, and more twisters touched down in Texas last week.
The U.S. is preparing for what government forecasters have called a potentially “extraordinary” 2024 Atlantic hurricane season beginning next Saturday.