Severe weather threatened more than 45 million Americans on Easter Sunday, as a treacherous string of thunderstorms described as “a historical weather event” continued to strike parts of the southern and midwestern United States, causing flooding and at times tornado risks across a substantial block of the country from East Texas to southeastern Iowa and Illinois. In Oklahoma, people braced for more rain after a deluge turned deadly earlier in the weekend.
As CBS News reports, two people, including a child, died Saturday night because of flooding in Moore, Oklahoma, which is a suburb outside Oklahoma City, police said. The adult woman and 12-year-old boy were inside a vehicle that was among about a dozen stuck in high water, while heavy rainfall inundated the area and, in some places, flowed up and over the curbs, according to the Moore Police Department.
One of the vehicles left the flooded road and was swept under a bridge. Police said all of its occupants were rescued except for the woman and boy, who were later found dead. “This was a historical weather event that impacted roads and resulted in dozens of high-water incidents across the city,” said Moore Police in a statement. “The Moore Police Department would like to extend a thank you to our neighboring agencies who assisted in rescue efforts. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the victims.”
Moore Police had launched a search for the people washed away in floodwaters, sending dive teams, ground crews and drones to probe a creek running under the bridge after their truck slid beneath it, CBS News affiliate KWTV reported. With the vehicle pinned under the bridge and two occupants missing, dramatic video shared by the station showed an emergency responder suspended by a harness over the creek’s rushing current, seemingly trying to access the truck and those inside from above.
Multiple water rescues took place around Moore on Saturday, according to affiliate KWTV, which also shared video of someone wading through waist-deep water beside a submerged car in the area. Storms were forecast to continue sweeping through sections of southern Oklahoma into Sunday, where the National Weather Service in Norman warned of flash flooding that would likely ramp up again in the early morning hours.
Another death was reported in Hughes County, about 75 miles east of Norman. Hughes County Emergency Management reported that at about 10:35 p.m. local time, a tornado touched down in the small town of Spaulding. One person was killed and two others were injured, according to the agency. Two homes were also destroyed and several other small structures in the area were damaged.
Numerous tornado alerts were issued by the National Weather Service across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri and Louisiana on April 20. AccuWeather said parts of parts of Missouri, Arkansas and Illinois were under high risk for severe thunderstorms. “Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely,” the weather service warned.
Elsewhere, severe weather struck parts of East Texas through the Ozarks and mid-Mississippi Valley on Sunday, threatening portions of Arkansas and Missouri with potentially destructive winds and large hail and more tornadoes, according to the NOAA Storm Prediction Center. A tornado was even confirmed in north-central Montana on Sunday.
Tornadoes are prevalent in April, along with May and June, because the atmospheric conditions necessary for their formation are more likely to converge during this time of year. Specifically, the jet stream dips southward during spring, bringing warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico northward. This clash of air masses, combined with strong wind shear, can create the conditions for supercell thunderstorms, which can produce tornadoes.
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