Storms kill at least 18 in several US states

Powerful storms killed at least 18 people, injured hundreds and left a wide trail of destruction 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 Associated Press reports.

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. About 100 people were injured and more than 200 homes and structures destroyed, Abbott said.

Eight people died statewide in Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed in a news conference Sunday evening. In Oklahoma, two people died in Mayes County, east of Tulsa, officials said. In Kentucky, a man was killed Sunday in Louisville when a tree fell on him, police said.

The storms overturned cars and collapsed garages, ripped the roofs off homes and blew out windows.

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

According to specialists, climate change contributes to the severity of storms around the world. April had the second-highest number of tornadoes on record in the country, AP adds. 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.

Related Articles Al Jazeera: Israeli strikes on Gaza Strip kill 48 people Joe Biden received in Washington heads of NATO member states European Parliament MP calls Orban's participation in the summit of Turkic States in Shushi “a shame” United States and our allies are ready to facilitate negotiations: Roger Wicker Armenia greatly values the role of the United States in the peace-building process in our region- Pashinyan to Joe Biden India issues red alert across the northern states because of severe heatwave Kyiv says it foiled plot to kill Zelensky: DW How redistricting in these states could determine which party controls the US House United States condemns the ‘Kremlin-inspired foreign influence’ legislation advanced in Georgia’s parliament, Miller United States Commission on International Religious Freedom recommends US Government to designate Azerbaijan as a ‘country of particular concern’