More storms target central US, including areas hit by recent tornadoes
More severe storms were expected to roll across the central US this week following the weather-related deaths of more than two dozen people and a devastating Kentucky tornado.
The National Weather Service said a 'multitude of hazardous weather' would impact the US over the next several days — from thunderstorms and potentially baseball-sized hail on the Plains, to heavy mountain snow in the West and dangerous heat in the South.
Areas at risk of thunderstorms include communities in Kentucky and Missouri that were hit by Friday's tornadoes.
In London, Kentucky, people whose houses were destroyed scrambled Sunday to put tarps over salvageable items or haul them away for safe storage, said Zach Wilson.
Redeemer Lutheran Church is damaged along Highway 27 in Somerset, Kentucky (AP/Carolyn Kaster)
His parents' house was in ruins, their belongings scattered.
'We're trying the hardest to get anything that looks of value and getting it protected, especially pictures and papers and things like that,' he said.
At least 19 people were killed and 10 seriously injured in Kentucky, where a tornado on Friday damaged hundreds of homes and tossed vehicles in southeastern Laurel County.
Officials said the death toll could rise and that three people remained in critical condition on Sunday.
Wilson said he raced to his parents' home in London, Kentucky, after the storm.
'It was dark and still raining, but every lightning flash, it was lighting up your nightmares: Everything was gone,' he said.
'The thankful thing was me and my brother got here and got them out of where they had barricaded themselves.'
Survey teams were expected on the ground on Monday so the state could apply for federal disaster assistance, Governor Andy Beshear said.
Some of the two dozen state roads that had closures could take days to reopen.
In St. Louis, five people died and 38 were injured as the storm system swept through on Friday, according to Mayor Cara Spencer.
More than 5,000 homes in the city were affected, she said.
On Sunday, city inspectors were going through damaged areas to condemn unsafe structures, Ms Spencer said.
A destroyed home is seen from above (AP/Carolyn Kaster)
She asked people not to sightsee in damaged areas.
A tornado that started in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton traveled at least eight miles, had 150-mph winds and had a maximum width of one mile, according to the weather service.
It touched down in the area of Forest Park, home to the St. Louis Zoo and the site of the 1904 World's Fair and the Olympic Games that same year.
In Scott County, about 130 miles south of St Louis, a tornado killed two people, injured several others and destroyed multiple homes, Sheriff Derick Wheetley wrote on social media.
The weather system spawned tornadoes in Wisconsin and temporarily enveloped parts of Illinois, including Chicago, in a pall of dust.
Two people were killed in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC, by falling trees while driving.
The storms hit after the Trump administration cut staffing of National Weather Service offices, with outside experts worrying about how it would affect warnings in disasters such as tornadoes.
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