More severe weather is on the way for Oklahoma after a weekend of destruction caused by heavy rain and a string of tornadoes.
A weekend of severe weather injured at least 11 people and damaged around 100 homes. Left in the wake of the tornadoes were damage to several structures and downed power lines, traffic lights and trees, the Oklahoma City Fire Department said.
On Monday, the weather system will bring more thunderstorms, damaging wind, large hail and possibly tornadoes to the south-central U.S., according to the National Weather Service.
Around 17 million people who live in the area from central Texas to northern Missouri are at risk of experiencing the severe weather.
Eastern Oklahoma and surrounding areas have an enhanced risk of bearing the brunt of the weather, according to the weather service’s storm prediction center. The severe threat of tornadoes to eastern Oklahoma is expected to increase throughout the afternoon and the evening.
The entire eastern part of the state is under a tornado watch until 6 p.m. CT, including Seminole, Bryan and Marshall counties, according to the weather service.
The heaviest rain is also expected to affect eastern Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas, as well as Missouri and Illinois in the Midwest, according to the weather service.
Around 7 million people are under flood alerts across parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and northern Texas, where more than 3 inches of rain will be possible through Tuesday.
The storm system is expected to weaken and move east to the mid-Mississippi Valley on Tuesday, which will end the severe weather risk for Oklahoma and shift it toward Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, the mid-Mississippi Valley and the Midwest by Tuesday, the weather service said.
"As the low pressure center tracks quickly northeastward across the Great Lakes Tuesday night, the trailing cold front will weaken with time, leading to a lessening threat of heavy rain and severe weather farther east across the Mid-Mississippi Valley on Tuesday," the weather service said in an update Monday morning. "Nevertheless, moderate to locally heavy rain with embedded thunderstorms are expected to reach into the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys Tuesday night into Wednesday morning."
