Powerful storms killed at least 15 people, injured hundreds and left a wide trail of destruction on Sunday across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas after 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 later in the day. By 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.

Seven deaths were reported 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. Three family members were found dead in one home, according to the county sheriff.

Storms also killed two people and destroyed houses in Oklahoma, where the injured included guests at an outdoor wedding, and five people in Arkansas. Tens of thousands of residents were without power across the region.

In Texas, about 100 people were injured and more than 200 homes and structures destroyed, said Abbott, sitting in front of a ravaged truck stop near the small agricultural community of Valley View. The area was among the hardest-hit, with winds reaching an estimated 135 mph (217 kph), 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.

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 are expected and nobody was reported missing in Texas, said Abbott, though responders were doing one more round of searches just in case.

At least five people were killed in Arkansas, including a 26-year-old woman who was found dead outside a destroyed home in Olvey, a small community in Boone County, according to Daniel Bolen of the county’s emergency management office. Another person died in Benton County, and two more bodies were found in Marion County. In Oklahoma, two people died in Mayes County, east of Tulsa, officials said.

Elsewhere, a man was killed Sunday in Louisville, Kentucky, when a tree fell on him, police said. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenburg confirmed it was a storm-related death on social media.

The destruction continued a grim month of deadly severe weather in the nation’s midsection.

Tornadoes in Iowa last week left at least five people dead and dozens injured. 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.

Brooks recommended that travelers passing through threatened areas over the Memorial Day weekend have a plan for a weather emergency.

Travelers who have already chosen where to get food and other essentials “probably ought to be thinking about what could I do if there’s a dangerous situation to save my life,” Brooks said.

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. “The father’s leg was snapped.”

The severe weather knocked out power for tens of thousands of homes and businesses in the path of the storms.

By late Sunday, more than 80,000 customers in Arkansas were without power. In neighboring Missouri, more than 90,000 were also without power. Texas reported 27,000 outages while 3,000 were reported in Oklahoma, according to the tracking website poweroutage.us.

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.

Iowa:

A series of devastating tornadoes ravaged western Iowa on Tuesday, resulting in multiple fatalities and widespread destruction in several communities, as severe storms continued to pummel the Midwest, CNN reported.

In the small city of Greenfield, Iowa, located approximately 50 miles southwest of Des Moines, a destructive storm unleashed a tornado shortly before 5 pm, causing extensive damage to numerous homes and structures, Iowa State Patrol spokesperson Sgt Alex Dinkla said.

“We can confirm there have been multiple fatalities with this tornado,” he told a press conference but refrained from providing further details on the casualties.

Residents in Greenfield were also left injured, and a local hospital suffered tornado damage, prompting the transfer of patients to nearby medical facilities, Sgt Dinkla confirmed, according to CNN.

Footage captured by CNN affiliate KCCI depicted the trail of destruction left by the tornado in Greenfield, showcasing decimated homes, flattened structures, heaps of debris, damaged vehicles, and countless uprooted trees.

“There is basically nothing left,” remarked Clel Baudler, a former Iowa state representative residing half a mile from Greenfield, emphasising the tornado’s devastating impact.

Tragically, another storm-related fatality occurred in Adams County, Iowa, approximately 90 miles southwest of Des Moines, as confirmed by county medical examiner Lisa Brown. While Brown was unable to provide additional details on the incident, she attributed the death to a tornado.

The potent line of thunderstorms that swept through the region on Tuesday prompted a rare “potentially dangerous situation” tornado watch for parts of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, according to the Storm Prediction Center. This special tornado watch is only issued when there is a high level of confidence in the potential for multiple long-lived and EF2 or stronger tornadoes.

In response to the storm outbreak, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds authorized a proclamation of disaster emergency for 15 counties, enabling state resources to aid in response and recovery efforts. Governor Reynolds announced her intention to visit Greenfield on Wednesday morning to assess the damage firsthand, vowing to provide the full support of the state.

As of late Tuesday evening, over 30,000 customers were without power in Iowa, according to Poweroutage.us.

The severe thunderstorm outbreak on Tuesday also posed other serious hazards, including destructive hurricane-strength wind gusts of up to 90 mph and softball-size hail. More than 25 million people across the region were under a Level 3 of 5 or Level 4 of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms, according to the SPC.

The largest area of concern for widespread, hazardous impacts centered on much of Iowa, northwest Illinois, southwest Wisconsin, and northern Missouri. Major population centers such as Chicago and Milwaukee were also at risk of damaging storms.

The Des Moines International Airport temporarily closed late Tuesday afternoon as dangerous storms approached the area, prompting tornado warnings. Emergency management officials in Montgomery County, Iowa, confirmed the occurrence of “multiple tornadoes” within the county, though no injuries were reported at the time. Damage assessments were underway, with officials working to clear roads for access to affected properties, as reported by CNN.

In addition to tornadoes, flash flooding triggered by heavy rainfall posed a threat for parts of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Nebraska, where flood and tornado watches were in effect. Rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches were possible, with some areas expecting up to 5 inches.

Severe storms were forecasted to peak in the Midwest through Tuesday night, with additional severe thunderstorms expected to develop on Wednesday across a 1,500-mile stretch from Texas to western New York. The possibility of damaging winds, hail, and a few tornadoes persisted, with the region bracing for further impact.

The recent onslaught of severe weather across the United States, including the devastating storm in Houston last Thursday, underscored the urgent need for preparedness and resilience in the face of unpredictable natural disasters, CNN reported.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)