Five people died in Texas, two in Oklahoma, and another in Arkansas overnight after violent storms and tornadoes swept through the region, overturning trucks, smashing homes and trapping dozens in a collapsed gas station.
Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington told NBC News early Sunday that five people died in the community some 50 miles north of Dallas, Texas. Between 60 and 80 people were believed to be trapped in a Shell station that had collapsed, he added.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, the weather service said radar had confirmed multiple tornadoes and hail two inches in diameter. Two people were killed in nearby Mayes County and at least six others taken for treatment, said Michael Dunham, Deputy Director of Emergency Management for Mayes County.
Officials for Benton County, Arkansas, said one person had been killed and “multiple” people injured in the area due to the storms. Benton County Sheriff Sean Halloway said emergency response teams were on search and rescue duty throughout the night.
The dangerous storms and tornadoes sweeping through the nation’s midsection also overturned 18-wheelers, smashed mobile homes and toppled power lines.
On Saturday night, federal forecasters had issued tornado watches and warnings for parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas.
In Denton, another community north of Dallas, the fire department posted a photo of a heavily damaged building on X, saying it was sending first responders to help “multiple victims,” including some who were trapped, after a tornado tore through town and tipped 18-wheelers onto their sides.
People who suffered injuries were transported to area hospitals by ground and air ambulances, Denton County Community Relations Director Dawn Cobb said in a statement.
The National Weather Service office for Fort Worth, Texas, urged residents in the path of unstable thunderstorm cells north of Dallas-Fort Worth to “SEEK SHELTER NOW!!!” They later posted on X that the tornado threat had diminished in the area, but warnings remained in many other parts of the state.
