Little relief was in sight Sunday for nine states where violent storms and tornadoes damaged and destroyed homes, flipped cars and downed power lines this weekend.
The storms, including 28 reported tornadoes, and flash flooding raked across parts of Minnesota, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Iowa and Louisiana on Saturday and early Sunday, The Weather Channel reported.
The angry weather roared through the heartland just one week after a line of storms and tornadoes blasted the nation's Tornado Alley, killing five people in Arkansas and Texas. Thus far this weekend, however, no deaths or injuries had been reported.
In beleaguered Johnson County, Texas, just south of Dallas-Fort Worth, multiple swift-water rescues from homes and vehicles were reported. The county already had been under a disaster d eclaration after several tornadoes touched down there April 26.
Tornadoes were reported early Sunday in Iowa and Louisiana as a line of storms ripped down the middle of the nation from Minnesota to Texas.
The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center warned of an "enhanced risk of severe weather in the Midwest" as the day progressed, possibly with the worst of it moving north.
"Large hail, damaging winds, and perhaps a few tornadoes are possible, especially from southeastern Minnesota into northern Illinois," the weather service warned.
On Saturday, Oklahoma was the primary target for the storms. Homes, businesses and power lines their took the brunt of the havoc, with tornadoes were reported in Broken Arrow, Tulsa and Tipton. The National Weather Service said several other possible tornadoes were being investigated. Parts of the state saw hail the size of baseballs.
Bill Bunting, chief of operations for the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center in Norman, told the Associated Press on Sunday that flash floods remained a concern in some areas in the wake of previous storms. He said damaging straight-line winds up to 60 mph were also a feature of the system in some areas.
"We are seeing pockets of damaging winds from Missouri south to northeast Oklahoma," Bunting said by phone early Sunday. "It's a very strong upper level disturbance. It's as extensive an area as we've seen this year."
