Destructive weather event causes havoc in the region. - In the USA, at least 18 people have lost their lives due to tornadoes.
At least 18 people have died due to storms and tornados across several US states, as per recent reports from the media. The casualties have been confirmed in Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kentucky.
The power outages from the storm caused near-half a million households to lose access to electricity at some point during Monday night, with almost 200,000 of them being in Kentucky. The state declared a state of emergency to provide the necessary resources to the affected regions, as stated by Governor Andy Beshear on the X platform.
The northern part of Texas bore the brunt of the storms over the weekend, which resulted in the death of at least two children - a two-year-old and a five-year-old from Valley View, north of Dallas. Photographs revealed houses totally destroyed and overturned cars. In line with initial forecasts from the US weather service, a tornado from Saturday packed a strength of three on a scale of five, which can produce wind speeds of up to 265 km/h.
North Texas was the worst-hit area over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. The weather pattern is forecasted to shift towards the east on Monday. Severe winds, hail, and potential new tornados are all under cautionary warnings for southern Texas. Additionally, temperatures in southern Texas are set to peak at a whopping 48°C.
The US celebrated Memorial Day on Monday - the unofficial start of summer, typically marked by swimming and barbecues. However, in several places, these celebrations might need to be called off due to the weather. Experts attribute the increase in natural disasters in the US - storms, floods, and forest fires - to the impacts of climate change. Per the US weather service, the incidence of tornados has increased markedly in recent years.
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Source: www.stern.de
