There were 25 tornadoes seen in five states.
Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP
At least 21 people lost their lives over the Memorial Day weekend due to severe weather, including tornadoes, according to several news reports.
The victims were from Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Texas, as reported by CNN.
According to the Associated Press, seven lives were lost in Cooke County, Texas, on Saturday, May 25, and another eight in Arkansas. Additionally, CNN reported four fatalities in Kentucky on Sunday, May 26.
Sadly, four children were among the victims this weekend.
ABC News stated that a total of 25 tornadoes touched down across five states, with numerous injuries in addition to the fatalities.
“We ought to rally around them and do everything we can to carry them,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters on Monday.
A mother and two children from Texas were also among those who died when a tornado devastated their mobile home park. Local NBC 5 TV station reported that a relative stated, “They were waiting on their bathroom floor for the tornado to pass, but the wind picked up their mobile home and dragged them about 100 feet.”
Another 110 million people continued to be at risk of severe weather on Monday, as noted by CNN.
The federal Storm Prediction Center issued a new tornado watch on Sunday, affecting over 4.5 million individuals across parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee.
According to the BBC, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott stated that over a third of the state’s counties were under a disaster declaration.
The Storm Prediction Center also mentioned that “Severe thunderstorms are expected through Memorial Day across parts of the lower Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast.”
The National Weather Service warned on Monday, May 27, of “dangerous heat” in regions like Texas and the Gulf Coast, including Florida. They also cautioned about “severe thunderstorms and areas of heavy rain [that would] impact much of the eastern U.S. … with isolated tornadoes possible in the eastern Mid-Atlantic.”
