Published on : Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Perkins’ Emergency Management office announced that at least one person drowned in Oklahoma after driving around a barricade on a road in the city.
A majority of tornadoes were in Kansas and Missouri. Of the total number, Friday had the most tornadoes reported at 39 and Tuesday was a close second at 32.
About 28 million people are under threat of severe weather on Wednesday, mostly in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois and Ohio, weather reports said.
However, the extreme weather is not just limited to tornadoes.
Parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri had more than three inches of rain in the past 24 hours, and are still under flood warnings, the National Weather Service said Tuesday night.
And severe thunderstorms, large hail and some tornadoes are expected from Missouri and western Illinois, to parts of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. In some parts of Illinois, the main threats will be heavy downpours, lightning and wind gusts of up to 35 mph, the National Weather Service said.
But not in Chicago, where forecasters had more upbeat news.
“Enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures on Wednesday,” the National Weather Service’s Chicago office tweeted. “Through the holiday weekend, the warmer weather will stick around, but there will also be periodic chances of showers and thunderstorms through the holiday weekend.”
In Oklahoma, the extreme weather was still a concern Wednesday, with the National Weather Service saying it’ll continue to monitor the area due to a risk of severe thunderstorms across central Oklahoma into western north Texas.
After the drenching rain, rescuers such as the Broken Arrow Fire Department posted harrowing videos of people being pulled out of gushing flood waters and warned people to avoid flooded roads.