Latest news with #LouisvilleCourierJournal
Washington Post
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Scripps National Spelling Bee guide: How to watch, who the notable spellers are, rules and prizes
The best young spellers in the English language are set to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee , which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year . The first bee was held in 1925, when the Louisville Courier-Journal invited other newspapers to host spelling bees and send their champions to Washington. The bee is now held just outside the nation's capital, at a convention center on the banks of the Potomac River in Oxon Hill, Maryland. It starts Tuesday and concludes Thursday night.
The Independent
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Scripps National Spelling Bee guide: How to watch, who the notable spellers are, rules and prizes
The best young spellers in the English language are set to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. The first bee was held in 1925, when the Louisville Courier-Journal invited other newspapers to host spelling bees and send their champions to Washington. The bee is now held just outside the nation's capital, at a convention center on the banks of the Potomac River in Oxon Hill, Maryland. It starts Tuesday and concludes Thursday night. This will be the 97th bee; it was canceled from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II and again in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year's champion will be the 110th, because the bee ended in a two-way tie several times and an eight-way tie in 2019. How can I watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee? The bee is broadcast and streamed on channels and platforms owned by Scripps, a Cincinnati-based media company. — Tuesday, May 27: Preliminary rounds streamed on Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More and from 8 a.m. to 4:40 p.m. EDT. — Wednesday, May 28: Quarterfinals streamed on Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More and from 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Semifinals streamed on Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More and from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Semifinals broadcast on ION on tape-delay from 8-10 p.m. — Thursday, May 29: Finals broadcast on ION from 8-10 p.m. Who is competing at the Scripps National Spelling Bee? The bee features 243 spellers, with at least one from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia; as well as spellers from U.S. territories Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands; and from Canada, the Bahamas, Germany, Ghana, Kuwait and Nigeria. Faizan Zaki, last year's runner-up, is back after losing to Bruhat Soma in a lightning-round tiebreaker known as a 'spell-off.' He's a 13-year-old seventh-grader from Allen, Texas. If he falls short again, he would have one more year of eligibility. He has won several online bees that top spellers compete in as preparation, including the Words of Wisdom Spelling Bee and the South Asian Spelling Bee. Other possible contenders: — Aishwarya Kallakuri, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Concord, North Carolina, and winner of the SpellPundit National Spelling Bee. — Avinav Prem Anand, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Columbus, Ohio, who finished second to Faizan in the Words of Wisdom bee. — Vedanth Raju, a 12-year-old seventh-grader from Aurora, Colorado, and the younger brother of 2022 runner-up Vikram Raju. What are the rules of the Scripps National Spelling Bee? Spellers qualify by advancing through regional bees hosted by sponsors around the country. In order to compete, spellers must not have advanced beyond the eighth grade or be older than 15. Spellers must get through two preliminary rounds, quizzing them on words from a list provided in advance: one spelling round and one multiple-choice vocabulary round. Those who make it through the preliminaries sit for a written spelling and vocabulary test, with the top 100 or so finishers advancing to the quarterfinals. The words for the test, and for all subsequent rounds, are taken from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged dictionary. Throughout the quarterfinals and semifinals, spellers are eliminated at the microphone through oral spelling or vocabulary questions. About a dozen spellers advance to the finals. When only two spellers remain, Scripps has the option to use a lightning-round tiebreaker known as a 'spell-off' to determine the champion. However, Scripps has taken away the requirement that the spell-off begin at a specific time, giving bee judges more discretion to let the competition play out. What are the prizes for the Scripps National Spelling Bee champion? The winner receives a custom trophy and more than $50,000 in cash and prizes. Here are the prize payouts: — First place: $52,500 in cash, reference works from Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster, and a $1,000 contribution to a school of the champion's choice. — Second place: $25,000. — Third place: $15,000. — Fourth place: $10,000. — Fifth place: $5,000. — Sixth place: $2,500. — All other finalists: $2,000. Stories of note — National Spelling Bee winners reflect on how it changed their lives — Scripps National Spelling Bee tweaks its rules to make 'spell-off' tiebreaker less likely — Bruhat Soma wins the National Spelling Bee after a slow night concludes with a sudden tiebreaker — National Spelling Bee reflects the economic success and cultural impact of immigrants from India — Exclusive secrets of the National Spelling Bee: Picking the words to identify a champion ___ Ben Nuckols has covered the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2012. Follow his work here.
Associated Press
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Scripps National Spelling Bee guide: How to watch, who the notable spellers are, rules and prizes
The best young spellers in the English language are set to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. The first bee was held in 1925, when the Louisville Courier-Journal invited other newspapers to host spelling bees and send their champions to Washington. The bee is now held just outside the nation's capital, at a convention center on the banks of the Potomac River in Oxon Hill, Maryland. It starts Tuesday and concludes Thursday night. This will be the 97th bee; it was canceled from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II and again in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year's champion will be the 110th, because the bee ended in a two-way tie several times and an eight-way tie in 2019. How can I watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee? The bee is broadcast and streamed on channels and platforms owned by Scripps, a Cincinnati-based media company. — Tuesday, May 27: Preliminary rounds streamed on Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More and from 8 a.m. to 4:40 p.m. EDT. — Wednesday, May 28: Quarterfinals streamed on Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More and from 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Semifinals streamed on Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More and from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Semifinals broadcast on ION on tape-delay from 8-10 p.m. — Thursday, May 29: Finals broadcast on ION from 8-10 p.m. Who is competing at the Scripps National Spelling Bee? The bee features 243 spellers, with at least one from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia; as well as spellers from U.S. territories Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands; and from Canada, the Bahamas, Germany, Ghana, Kuwait and Nigeria. Faizan Zaki, last year's runner-up, is back after losing to Bruhat Soma in a lightning-round tiebreaker known as a 'spell-off.' He's a 13-year-old seventh-grader from Allen, Texas. If he falls short again, he would have one more year of eligibility. He has won several online bees that top spellers compete in as preparation, including the Words of Wisdom Spelling Bee and the South Asian Spelling Bee. Other possible contenders: — Aishwarya Kallakuri, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Concord, North Carolina, and winner of the SpellPundit National Spelling Bee. — Avinav Prem Anand, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Columbus, Ohio, who finished second to Faizan in the Words of Wisdom bee. — Vedanth Raju, a 12-year-old seventh-grader from Aurora, Colorado, and the younger brother of 2022 runner-up Vikram Raju. What are the rules of the Scripps National Spelling Bee? Spellers qualify by advancing through regional bees hosted by sponsors around the country. In order to compete, spellers must not have advanced beyond the eighth grade or be older than 15. Spellers must get through two preliminary rounds, quizzing them on words from a list provided in advance: one spelling round and one multiple-choice vocabulary round. Those who make it through the preliminaries sit for a written spelling and vocabulary test, with the top 100 or so finishers advancing to the quarterfinals. The words for the test, and for all subsequent rounds, are taken from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged dictionary. Throughout the quarterfinals and semifinals, spellers are eliminated at the microphone through oral spelling or vocabulary questions. About a dozen spellers advance to the finals. When only two spellers remain, Scripps has the option to use a lightning-round tiebreaker known as a 'spell-off' to determine the champion. However, Scripps has taken away the requirement that the spell-off begin at a specific time, giving bee judges more discretion to let the competition play out. What are the prizes for the Scripps National Spelling Bee champion? The winner receives a custom trophy and more than $50,000 in cash and prizes. Here are the prize payouts: — First place: $52,500 in cash, reference works from Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster, and a $1,000 contribution to a school of the champion's choice. — Second place: $25,000. — Third place: $15,000. — Fourth place: $10,000. — Fifth place: $5,000. — Sixth place: $2,500. — All other finalists: $2,000. Stories of note — National Spelling Bee winners reflect on how it changed their lives — Scripps National Spelling Bee tweaks its rules to make 'spell-off' tiebreaker less likely — Bruhat Soma wins the National Spelling Bee after a slow night concludes with a sudden tiebreaker — National Spelling Bee reflects the economic success and cultural impact of immigrants from India — Exclusive secrets of the National Spelling Bee: Picking the words to identify a champion ___ Ben Nuckols has covered the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2012. Follow his work here.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Gun trafficking from the US to Mexico: The drug connection
Illegal firearm trafficking is inseparable from the illegal drug trade: Weapons are often bought with drug money, can strengthen cartels and can be traded for drugs. In the spring of 2021, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, known as ATF, started a gun-trafficking investigation that ran from Idaho, down through California and into Mexico. The investigation uncovered a scheme to drive pounds of narcotics north, and some of their 'white China' and black tar heroin were exchanged for guns that an Idaho Falls resident purchased out of a firearm seller's garage. By the summer, ATF and other federal agents tracked the traffickers to a hotel off West Broadway Street in downtown Idaho Falls, where they observed a suspected drug deal and apprehended their suspects. Their final haul included 15 pounds of meth, a pound of heroin, 3,000 fentanyl pills and 16 handguns and rifles. The incident fits into a larger web of trafficking guns south to Mexico and narcotics north to the American Midwest and coasts. The Louisville Courier Journal documented the connection in their investigation into cartel drugs poisoning Oregon. We are a professor of economic development and an investigative journalist, and we have spent a year sifting through documents to follow the flow of illicit weapons trafficked from the U.S. to Mexico. This trafficking web regularly shows up in prosecutions, including 14 federal sentences in North Carolina that included dozens of firearms and hundreds of pounds of narcotics. Our collection of court records and gun data traces the relationship throughout the United States. Read the full investigation: Mexican drug cartels use hundreds of thousands of guns bought from licensed US gun shops – fueling violence in Mexico, drugs in the US and migration at the border Of the 100 court cases we cataloged, nearly one-fifth explicitly mention drug trafficking in connection to the confiscated firearms. In 2020, Pedro Roberto Hernandez-Gomez was caught in Los Angeles attempting to exchange a kilogram of fentanyl and a kilogram of heroin for three machine guns and three grenade launchers. And in March 2024, Xavier Drew, also known as 'Flock,' was sentenced to 13½ years in prison for selling several pounds of meth, fentanyl and nearly a dozen firearms to undercover agents. The guns included a semiautomatic pistol and pistols with obliterated or missing serial numbers. He also sold them Glock switches, or machine-gun conversion kits. A collaborator, Esvin Ivan Calles-Corrales, was sentenced to five years for shipping narcotics and facilitating the transfer of related proceeds to Mexico. Closer to the border, in August 2022, Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez, aka Fernanda, coordinated gun purchases in the U.S. – using drug funds from Mexico for the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel and courier deliveries of meth and fentanyl pills from Mexico through El Paso, Texas – with Brian Munoz-Castro. Munoz-Castro distributed the narcotics to separate couriers, who delivered the drugs throughout the U.S. Federal agents arrested Munoz-Castro in a gun store parking lot in March 2023 after he picked up gun parts from an El Paso gun shop. He later took the agents to his home in El Paso where he had close to 2½ kilos of meth. Federal agents indicted Navarro-Sanchez after they intercepted her communications with former Juarez, Mexico, city hall police officer Rene Hernandez-Cordero. The agents tracked a gun exchange involving Hernandez-Cordero at a Circle K in El Paso. Twenty assault rifles and two Barrett .50-caliber rifles were set to be trafficked into Mexico in August 2023 in the back of a pickup truck for the purchase price of US$66,000. When Munoz-Castro was convicted in September 2024, Navarro-Sanchez was still a fugitive, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Munoz-Castro received a 10-year sentence for his role. At the hearing, the defense tried to call out the absurdity of so many weapons just thrown into the back of a pickup truck and driven across the border. 'That's inherently ridiculous, isn't it?' the attorney asked. Mark Cervantes, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement officer, answered by pointing to the ubiquity of these kinds of trafficking actions. 'I've had one instance where an individual had 20 SCAR assault rifles and 30 Glock pistols without concealment in the vehicle,' he said. With some 135,000 firearms traveling across the border annually, it's not a surprise that some traffickers might be so brazen. Read the full investigation: Mexican drug cartels use hundreds of thousands of guns bought from licensed US gun shops – fueling violence in Mexico, drugs in the US and migration at the border This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Sean Campbell, The Conversation and Topher L. McDougal, University of San Diego Read more: US gun trafficking to Mexico: Independent gun shops supply the most dangerous weapons Philly's street fentanyl contains an industrial chemical called BTMPS that's an ingredient in plastic What is fentanyl and why is it behind the deadly surge in US drug overdoses? A medical toxicologist explains The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
'Trail of destruction' as tornadoes, storms in 3 states kill at least 32: Live updates
At least 32 people were killed in Kentucky, Missouri and Virginia after storms and tornadoes tore through the region as part of an extreme weather outbreak on May 16, "leaving behind a trail of destruction," authorities said. The toll includes at least 23 dead in Kentucky and seven in Missouri, authorities there said. The number of fatalities was expected to continue increasing, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said. The Kentucky deaths were concentrated in Laurel County in the southeastern part of the state, where a tornado tore through the city of London. A Laurel County firefighter died while responding. Randall Weddle, mayor of the city of London, told the Louisville Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, that at least 23 people there died. Beshear confirmed at least 18 deaths: 17 in Laurel County and one in Pulaski County. The youngest victim is a 25-year-old Laurel County man. Beshear said during a 5 p.m. press conference on May 17 that he expected the Kentucky death toll to "potentially rise." 'This was a devastatingly strong tornado that tore through a subdivision in the middle of the night and that is the worst type of natural disaster," he said. The tornadoes came amid a severe weather outbreak with preliminary reports of tornadoes in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and even New Jersey. The tornado that struck the south end of Laurel County leveled more than a dozen houses to their foundations in the Westland neighborhood and left the streets full of brick, wood and personal belongings, the Courier Journal reported. "I've never felt the ground vibrate so hard,' said Keith Clark, whose family huddled in a closet during the storm. 'It was really bad. Then hearing neighbors scream and you can't get to them, it's pretty scary.' The National Weather Service St. Louis released preliminary information on the May 16 twister that killed five people in the city and injured at least 38. The tornado was an EF3 with winds of 150 mph, according to a NWS social media post. Its path was at least eight miles long and up to a mile wide. It began in the city of Clayton at 2:41 p.m. Central. Destruction to buildings and roadways has been widespread, officials said. Eric Gibson, who heads Kentucky's Emergency Management department, said hundreds of homes have been damaged in the state. Parts of 24 state highways were closed May 17 because of the disaster, Beshear said. The Laurel County Sheriff's Office, London Police Department and Kentucky State Police answered more than 4,000 calls for service related to the disaster, the governor said. Beshear said 69,218 people remain without power statewide. That's down from a high of 172,711 power outages in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Beshear, a Democrat, said he spoke with federal emergency officials about disaster recovery and is working with President Donald Trump's administration. "Politics has no place in responding to national disasters like this one, and for the two events that we've already had this year, we've seen a White House and a FEMA organization that has performed well and has done what we've asked,' he said. Beshear listed the sex and age of those who died in the Kentucky storms. The oldest is a 76-year-old man, the youngest a 25-year-old man, both from Laurel County, a community of 63,000 people south of Lexington in the Appalachian region. The tornado also killed a 48-year-old and a 51-year-old woman from Laurel County. Beshear didn't know the ages of three other individuals who died. The other confirmed fatalities are individuals in their 60s and 70s. At least 10 people are in critical condition and others are receiving medical care, Beshear said. "All our efforts are still focused on searching and rescuing anyone who might still be in danger," the governor said. "And tending to those who are still fighting for their lives." Beshear said he was awaiting more information on the strength of the Kentucky tornado. The information he received from the National Weather Service, which he said was relayed to him "secondhand," is that the tornado was an EF3 when it went through the Somerset community. An EF3 tornado has winds of 136 to 165 mph. Sharon Deaton ran up the stairs of her home in Laurel County to grab a candle. 'When I get to the top of the stairs, the roar was unreal,' Deaton said, recalling a reported tornado that struck the area Friday. 'Then, there it was.' She and her family huddled against a wall in a small portion of the family room that's underground. 'We covered our heads up and prayed really hard,' she said. 'Everyone says it sounds like a freight train, but to me it was a roar like I've never heard before.' The family began to hear glass and window panes breaking. When it passed, Deaton looked around, saw her family was safe, and I said, 'There is nothing in this house that I can't leave behind.'' When the family tried to leave, though, they found they were trapped because they couldn't get through the garage door or the back door. As she was rushed by other family members to vehicles and taken to safety, she couldn't see the neighborhood she'd lived in since the 80s. Then she returned to it during the daylight of Saturday morning. 'It broke my heart,' Deaton said as she stifled a sob. She loved this neighborhood by the London-Corbin airport, loved the quiet street where she walked her dog. Now, her clothes were being stacked in the back of an SUV and several cars sat in her front lawn. 'We don't even know whose those are,' she said. Deaton placed her hands over her mouth as she looked across the hills of trees reaching toward the sky with no leaves and houses exposed to their beams. 'I'm just believing that, yes it's changed, but I know a God that restores, so that's where we're at,' she said. -Louisville Courier Journal Major Roger Leslie Leatherman died after being fatally injured while responding to a reported tornado in Kentucky, the Laurel County Fire Department shared in a social media post. The department said Leatherman "was a dedicated public servant for 39 years, answering the call to protect and help others in their most critical time of need.' 'Please keep Major Leatherman's family, friends, and fellow responders in your thoughts and prayers,' the post said. -Louisville Courier Journal Tammie Warren crouched on the debris that used to be her home, calling out for her nearly 2-year-old gray miniature schnauzer, named after country music legend Willie Nelson. The wind blew through Laurel County, rustling siding and spraying water from broken water pipes in a house next door. 'Willie,' she called out. 'Come on, baby, let's go for a ride.' 'Willie, do you want a treat?' she called again. When her phone alerted her to a tornado the night before, she ran to her front windows to see neighbors hopping in their trucks to leave. As she ran to a utility door, she couldn't get it open. Then, a rush of air blew the door open, threw her to the ground and dropped her hot water heater on her left leg. 'It must have been adrenaline, but I pulled my leg out,' she said. 'I was under that granite slab right there. I crawled out and sat on that slab for probably 45 minutes until the fire department was able to come rescue me.' Warren's husband was found in the kitchen, a cut to his neck. He was taken to a hospital in Lexington. And her son, blood still leaking from wounds to his legs and wearing a hospital band, walked dazed through the property shouting for Willie. 'Jesus, let me find him,' Warren said, as she tried to step through the debris and saw nails sticking up near her foot. She stopped and began to cry. 'Please, Jesus, let me find him.' Stephanie Mink stood at an intersection of two unidentifiable roads that no longer had street signs. 'How do we find out what happened to the people in this home?' she asked. She was looking for family. As she relayed her phone number, her voice began to tremble. -Louisville Courier Journal Severe weather in Virginia led to at least two deaths, authorities said on May 16. In Fairfax County, a woman was killed in her car after a tree fell on it, police said. Another driver was killed at about 6 p.m. when a tree fell on a vehicle along the George Washington Memorial Parkway near Morningside Lane, in Fort Hunt, Virginia, the U.S. Park Police said in an email to USA TODAY. The catastrophic tornado is believed to be one of the worst storms in the history of St. Louis, Mayor Spencer said in a May 17 news conference. Spencer said in addition to the five killed in the city, at least 38 people were injured. About 5,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed in the storm, she said. Sirens could be heard in the distance as Spencer and Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe gave updates. The tornado downed trees and ripped entire walls off of homes, as photos of the destruction showed. "The devastation is truly tremendous," Spencer said. St. Louis resident Joan Miller said she narrowly escaped when the tornado struck her brick house. "The wind started, the tree out front was shaking so violently," Miller said. "And suddenly all the doors shut, the windows flew out from the bedroom ... the entire back of my house ... you can see straight into the alley now." About 130 miles away in Scott County, Missouri, the sheriff's office said two more were killed in a tornado that tore through rural areas there. "The tornado moved from the eastern part of the county, leaving behind a trail of destruction, with multiple homes completely lost and areas left unrecognizable," Sheriff Derick Wheetley said in a statement. One of the people killed during the storm was in a car at the time, St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy said. Authorities didn't give additional details about the circumstances of the deaths or injuries. The death toll in St. Louis did not increase as search and rescue crews combed through the debris overnight, which is good news, Spencer said. The teams worked through about 2:30 a.m. to go door-to-door, said Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson. They searched about 4,000 homes and plan to continue searching and repeating searches. "We've got a lot of work left to do," Jenkerson said. "We won't leave any stone unturned." Authorities in Kentucky expect the death toll to increase as they continue to search the ravaged areas. In Laurel County, the toll rose from nine earlier on May 17 to 23. The tornado there hit just before midnight on May 16, the sheriff's office said. Many more were injured. Four were injured in Louisville when a tree collapsed "across the center" of a home. The injured included two adults and two children who were trapped in the house before being rescued, the fire department said, according to the Louisville Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. The National Weather Service reported possible tornadoes in Pulaski and Laurel counties in southeastern Kentucky. According to a May 16 storm report, a trained spotter reported a tornado in Somerset, while "likely tornado damage" was shown at the London-Corbin Airport. A relief station was set up at South Laurel High School gym, according to Laurel County Clerk Tony Brown. The station has supplies for victims of the tornado, as well as food for victims and first responders. London Mayor Randall Weddle said people came out overnight with chainsaws and other tools to help. "It's just been amazing to watch all the moving parts here in our city and our county," Weddle said. "Right now, they're still searching for people through all this debris." -Bailey Loosemore, Stephanie Kuzydym and Hannah Pinski, the Louisville Courier Journal Tornadoes touched down in Bloomington, Greene County, Brown County and elsewhere across Indiana on May 16, according to the Herald-Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. A video on social media showed softball-sized hail in Greene County. Ashley Byarlay was driving home at 7:30 p.m. when she watched a tornado form over a housing subdivision in Bloomington, Indiana. "My dream job was to be a storm chaser," she said, "so I got to live my dream job today." She said she watched the tornado touch down near South Rogers and That Road and then lift up and travel farther east before dropping down again. The Clear Creek Post Office was destroyed along with several other buildings. Transformers and power lines were lying in the street as people came out from their homes and drove by in cars to see the damage. -Carol Kugler, The Herald-Times More: Trump cuts leave National Weather Service scrambling to cover vital shifts Severe storms over the weekend are expected to stretch from Texas and Georgia up to New York, according to AccuWeather. Approximately 50 million people are at risk of tornadoes and thunderstorms over vast swaths of the country on May 17 and 18, the forecasting company reported. Beginning the afternoon of May 17, AccuWeather reported a high risk of isolated tornadoes, large hail and flooding in the southern U.S., particularly in and around Dallas. On May 18, tornadoes, large hail and downpours are projected to hit parts of Kansas and Oklahoma. In the Northeast, residents can expect flooding downpours and wind gusts upwards of 50 mph starting the evening of May 17. Forecasters project severe weather continuing early next week in the central United States across the Plains and Mississippi Valley. - Eduardo Cuevas Crews worked to slowly restore power to the tens of thousands in the dark on May 17 after storms hit across the central part of the United States the day before, according to USA TODAY's power outage tracker. There were about 73,000 Kentucky homes and businesses without power, down from the more than 100,000 reported earlier in the morning by Beshear. Five counties had also reported states of emergencies. In Missouri, about 78,000 customers were in the dark. Of those, nearly 40,000 were in St. Louis where a deadly tornado caused destruction. Another large cluster of power outages was impacting customers in Michigan after severe storms on the nights of May 15 and 16. About 135,000 homes and businesses were without power. There were early reports of five tornadoes, hail and high winds across Michigan on May 15, according to the Lansing State Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. The National Weather Service said an EF0 tornado hit Collings Lakes in Atlantic County New Jersey on May 16, according to the local ABC station. An EFO has maximum winds of 65 to 75 mph. The tornado was on the ground for a minute, felling tree branches and ripping metal roofing from a building. Contributing: Reuters This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tornadoes, storms turn deadly in Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia: Updates
