At least 5 people have died from the storms in Arkansas, public safety official says (2024)

The death toll from severe weather that swept through Arkansas is now at least five, according to local officials.

Arkansas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Cindy Murphy told CNN about an additional storm-related death that occurred in Boone County.

Previously, officials had confirmed four deaths due to the severe weather overnight Saturday into Sunday.

According to Arkansas officials:

Murphy said 11 counties in Arkansas saw impacts from the storms, which hit the northern part of the state.

Rising death toll: The additional death reported in Arkansas bring this weekend's storm-related death toll to at least 14 people across three states.

Officials say seven were killed in Texas, including four children, and two people were killed in Oklahoma.

Survey teams from the National Weather Service found more severe damage in Claremore, Oklahoma, indicating the tornado there was at least a category EF3.

EF3 tornadoes pack winds of 136 to 165 mph. The damage was found north of Highway 20, east of the city.

The rating is still preliminary. Additional damage details and path length will be released once the surveys are complete.

The severe weather sweeping through the central United States has now killed at least four people in Arkansas.

Two people died in a storm that tracked through Marion County early Sunday, Sheriff Gregg Alexander said in a news release. The victims' identities have yet to be released, pending the notification of family members.

Another person died in Baxter County, located about 25 miles to the east, according to anews releasefrom the sheriff's office there.

Earlier today, an official reported one storm-related death in Benton County, near Arkansas' border with Oklahoma.

Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced a state of emergency Sunday afternoon in response to the deadly storms.

Rising death toll: The three additional deaths in Arkansas bring this weekend's storm-related death toll up to at least 13 people across three states.

Officials say seven were killed in Texas, including four children, and two people were killed in Oklahoma.

The deadly storms that struck parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas overnight Saturday into Sunday are now causing mass power outages as they make their way east.

Around 2:40 p.m. ET, 477,748 customers were without power across seven states, according to the tracking websitepoweroutage.us:

A tornado of at least EF2 strength struck Claremore, Oklahoma, overnight, according to initial reports from the National Weather Service in Tulsa.

EF2 tornadoes pack winds of 111 to 135 mph and are often responsible for strong damage.

“Survey continues and the rating is subject to change,” the National Weather Service notes in a post on X. Additional details about damage and the tornado's path length will be released as the service completes its surveys.

The tornado left 23 people injured in Claremore, a city of about 20,000 people in northeastern Oklahoma. Two people were killed in nearby Pryor. The area is also experiencing power outages and property damage from the severe storms.

A total of seven people were killed in the town of Valley View in Cooke County, Texas, when severe storms struck the area Saturday night, Sheriff Ray Sappington told CNN.

Authorities previously said five people had been killed in Valley View. Officials then discovered the bodies of two children, ages 2 and 5, on Sunday, according to Sappington. Two other juveniles were among those killed in the storms, he added.

Three of the deaths occurred in one household, the sheriff told CNN on Sunday morning.

Cooke County is in northern Texas, along the state's border with Oklahoma. The small town of Valley View has a population of just under 800 people.

Rising death toll: The updated figures from Texas bring the death toll from the storms overnight Saturday into Sunday to at least 10, according to officials in three states.

At least two people have died in Oklahoma, and one in Arkansas, authorities said earlier Sunday.

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the tornado-spawning storms that struck the central United States overnight, a White House official told CNN, adding that the president’s team will continue to keep him updated.

At least eight people, including children, were killed by the storms, according to officials in three states. The severe weather also caused power outages and forced residents to shelter in place.

More than 110 million people across parts of the US remain under threat of strong storms Sunday.

The storms that tore through the central US on Saturday night downed trees and damaged property in Mayfield, Kentucky.

Graves County Emergency Management Director Tracy Warner tells CNN that no one was injured or killed.

Five to six homes were damaged, some trees are down county-wide, and power lines snapped, according to Warner. Images from the community show a damaged gas station overhang and a tree blocking a road.

Currently, about 7,500 people are without power in Graves County, Warner said. Volunteer fire crews are clearing roads, while state highway patrol and county road crews work to clear the bigger trees.

Graves County is located on Kentucky's southwestern border with Tennessee.

Fans are being asked to leave the pre-race ceremonies at the Indianapolis 500 because of "the proximity of lightning" moving toward the speedway.

Attendees are being ushered away from the grandstands and Snake Pit music festival, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway said in a post on X.

The highly-anticipated race will also be delayed, according to organizers. It was originally scheduled to start at 12:45 p.m. ET. A new starting time has not yet been announced.

A field of 33 drivers are set to compete for 200 laps and 500 miles — including 2023 champ Josef Newgarden.