United States: On Monday, the states lying closer to the Gulf Coast faced severe weather threats as an approaching storm system led destructive tornadoes to spin over the entire central US over the weekend, which killed at least four people and inflicted widespread damages.
About the forecast of the National Weather Service
According to the National Weather Service, the forecast announced that a powerful thunderstorm would be spinning over southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana through the morning, thereby warning about gusty winds, hail, and floods, where alert of up to 2 to 3 inches of rain falling per hour have also been issued in some areas.
The warning issued by the weather service stated, “Multiple major metropolitan areas including Houston and Lake Charles and their suburbs may see significant and life-threatening impacts as extreme rainfall advances toward the Gulf Coast,” as USA Today reported.
As per the reports, more than 84,000 homes and businesses have been left without power in Texas and Louisiana after the storm crossed over the area. Moreover, tens of thousands of homes had their power supplies stripped off across the central US region.
Recovery efforts by authorities
On Monday, recovery operations started in various cities and communities that were covered under the devastating storm cells that destroyed whole blocks, overturned cars, and caused the death of no less than four people, including a 4-month-old baby, in Oklahoma.
More than a hundred people were injured during the storms, and Oklahoma’s Office of Emergency Management released information on Sunday afternoon, as per the authorities.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said that the city of Sulphur, lying around 80 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, has had “definitely the most damage since I’ve been governor,” whose term was started in 2019.
Sitt said, “I’ve seen a lot of damage; I’ve been around the state,” and, “This is my sixth year. But what I saw in downtown Sulphur is unbelievable.”
Stitt, in turn, declared a state of emergency to give the recovery process expedited funding, and he later coordinated with federal authorities (e.g., FEMA) to make the recovery process a cooperative task.
Many states faced the same tyranny as Nebraska and Iowa. They have witnessed a total washout of their businesses and homes.
At least four killed in Oklahoma
Tornadoes reported to be four times deadly in a day have plunged down on rural areas with towns covering less than 0 to 2 kilometers henceforth, resulting in the killing of at least four people in the state of Oklahoma on Saturday, as USA Today reported.
The Oklahoma medical examiner has confirmed three storm-related fatalities: In Holdenville, the largest being about 80 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, and Marietta, a little city near the Texas border, has one. The county sheriff’s office reported that the infant fatality was less likely since the other victim was an adult male.
Governor Kevin Stitt on Sunday confirmed a fourth death occurred in the small city of Sulphur (5,000 population), which was devastated by the tornado on Saturday. A tornado has torn apart the downtown area.
In a news conference, Stitt said “We’ll do whatever we can to help put the pieces back together,” and “Thank goodness it was a downtown, that there wasn’t a lot of people here at 10:30 at night. You just can’t believe the destruction.”