Deadly Tornadoes Rip Through Central United States
Tornado alley lived up to its name on Sunday as a host of tornadoes touched down throughout the central United States. Already, it appears that the twisters were deadly.
One death has been reported thus far and it seems that residents of Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Nebraska aren't into the clear just yet. Those areas have been advised that conditions would be favorable for more tornadoes on Monday.
"A very moist atmosphere will become quite unstable again today," the National Weather Service said. "This combined with strong favorable winds aloft will result in a risk of a few strong tornadoes, very large hail and damaging winds in the most intense storms."
In addition to the one death over the weekend, there have been around 20 injuries thus far, and perhaps even more. The man who died was at a mobile home park, traditionally one of the most vulnerable places to be during a twister.
"You could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter," observed the National Weather Service. "Complete destruction of neighborhoods, businesses and vehicles will occur. Flying debris will be deadly to people and animals."
That warning of destruction proved to be accurate, as the tornadoes ripped through county after county on their path of destruction. In Oklahoma alone, 16 counties were classified as disaster areas and in total more than two dozen tornadoes were spotted in Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and Illinois.
Though the National Weather Service posted continuous updates on the status of the tornadoes, there was little anyone could do to prepare due to the speed of the storm. When conventional warning were not enough for the town of Pink (outside Oklahoma City), the service's posts became a bit more adamant.
"Large tornado west of Pink!" the post read. "Take cover RIGHT NOW in Pink! DO NOT WAIT!"
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