Over a third of all counties in the massive state of Texas were declared to be in a state of emergency by Governor Greg Abbot after being pummeled by extreme weather over the weekend of May 26.
The storms which struck Texas also swept across the American midwest, leaving a toll of deaths and injuries that continue to rise any time a new count is reported. The entire storm system included massive thunderstorms, flash flooding, high winds, and tornadoes.
Abbot’s disaster declaration covered 108 counties as of Sunday May 26. He said that the people of the state were reeling from the horrific storms, which included the death of small children and untold millions in property damage. He spoke of watching a “harrowing video” taken inside a gas station in the town of Valley View, to the north of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The station was destroyed by the tornado while people crammed inside to shelter from the storm. Despite the fact that people inside were literally hanging on for dear life as the building disintegrated around them, none of them were killed.
The National Weather Service recorded multiple tornado touchdowns in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. At least two of those that touched down were rated EF-2 and one, according to post-hoc damage analysis, was likely a large EF-3.
This most recent wave of storms are merely the newest chapter in the exceptionally deadly 2024 US tornado season. Iowa reported five deaths and 35 injuries as the result of tornadoes from this same storm front, which swept up towards the northeast over the course of the evening of the 26th. Tornado watches were declared in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky affecting over 7 million Americans, while tornadoes also touched down in St. Louis, Arkansas, in Oklahoma.
The storms delayed home games for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds, with the stairs in the St. Louis dugouts turning into waterfalls from the extreme runoff.
