Storms and tornadoes across central US kill dozens and damage homes
May 19, 2025, 8:34 AM | Updated: 10:28 pm
LONDON, Ky. (AP) — Officials in Kansas and Texas were evaluating damage on Monday after tornadoes touched down overnight, just days after more than two dozen people were killed in storms that swept through parts of the Midwest and South.
Kentucky was hardest hit by last week’s storms. A devastating tornado damaged hundreds of homes, tossed vehicles, left many homeless, and killed at least 19 people, most of them in southeastern Laurel County.
Meteorologists predicted a fresh “multi-day” mix of dangerous weather conditions across the central U.S. with heavy rains, thunderstorms and potential tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service.
A powerful tornado tore through Reno County, Kansas, late Sunday, moving through rural areas and into the small community of Plevna, county Emergency Management officials said in a news release on Monday. The tornado damaged several homes, trees and utility poles, then continued to cause damage for about 5 miles (8 kilometers) north and east of the city. Damage was extensive, but no injuries or deaths were reported, officials said.
A National Weather Service team planned to head out Monday to survey Plevna tornado damage, said Andy Kleinsasser, a meteorologist with the service’s office in Wichita. There were no known injuries or fatalities, Kleinsasser said. The tornado started in Stafford County and cut a path that was at least 20 miles (32.2 kilometers) long through Reno County, he said.
In the western part of Kansas, Interstate 70 was reduced to one lane near Grinnell, a town of 260 people, because of tornado damage and downed power lines.
The city of Greensburg, Kansas, said on social media Monday morning that there were power outages but it was safe after the “storm scare.” In 2007, Greensburg was slammed by an EF5 tornado that was more than 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) wide and packed winds up to 205 mph (330kph), leveling more than 90% of the town of 1,400 and killing 12.
The weather service confirmed a “large and extremely dangerous” tornado Sunday afternoon near Mingus, Texas, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) west of Fort Worth. Significant damage but no immediate casualties were reported in Palo Pinto County, which includes Mingus, a sheriff’s office dispatcher said. Officials were evaluating damage on Monday morning, said county Emergency Management Coordinator Chad Jordan.
The Kentucky storms emerged from a weather system Friday that killed seven in Missouri and two in northern Virginia, authorities said. Damage assessments were underway Sunday as Kentucky readied its request for federal disaster assistance, Gov. Andy Beshear said.
In St. Louis, Mayor Cara Spencer said five people died, 38 were injured and more than 5,000 homes were affected. About 130 miles (210 kilometers) south, a tornado in Scott County killed two people, injured several others and destroyed several homes, Sheriff Derick Wheetley wrote on social media.
About 1,200 tornadoes strike the U.S. annually, and they have been reported in all 50 states. Researchers found in 2018 that deadly tornadoes were occurring less frequently in the traditional “Tornado Alley” of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas and more frequently in parts of the more densely populated and tree-filled mid-South.
The Trump administration has massively cut staffing of National Weather Service offices, with outside experts worrying about how it would affect warnings in disasters such as tornadoes.
The office in Jackson, Kentucky, which was responsible for the area around London, Kentucky, had a March 2025 vacancy rate of 25%; the Louisville, Kentucky, weather service staff was down 29%; and the St. Louis office was down 16%, according to calculations by weather service employees obtained by The Associated Press. The Louisville office also was without a permanent boss — the meteorologist in charge — as of March, according to the staffing data.
Experts said any vacancy rate above 20% is a critical problem.
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See more photos from the severe storms in the South and Midwest here.
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Associated Press writers Sophia Tareen in Chicago and Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed to this report.
