
Thirteen million people who reside in broad swaths of Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana are buckling down for severe weather as a massive storm sweeps across the Great Plains.
The US National Weather Service (NWS), a division of NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) said that people living in a 60,000 square mile area covering the junction of the three states will experience strong wind, frequent lightning, large hail at least two inches in diameter, and increased tornado risk for the duration of the storm front. The storms may also, according to the NWS, yeild heavy rains leading to flash floods that may inundate roads, urban neighborhoods, and small streams in low-lying areas.
Other areas facing increased risk from this massive storm include parts of Michigan, Tennessee, and Illinois.
Those with basements should prepare to use them as shelters, should tornadoes touch down in their areas, the National Weather service said.
The warnings come even as Oklahoma has been battered by a series of severe tornadoes, military bases in the Midwest have been evacuated, and over 1,100 flights were delayed in Denver due to the severe weather. So far, one person has died as the result of these storms.
Barnsdall, a small down in Oklahoma, was hit by a tornado on Monday night that scattered debris and collapsed power lines. The funnel cloud swept the area around 9:30 pm and left several destroyed homes in its wake. Photos published to the Internet show the startling scale of destruction faced by locals as they began their search and rescue operation.
The Storm Prediction Center run by the National Weather service issued a tornado watch covering portions of Western and Central Oklahoma, Western North Texas, and Southern Kansas on Monday afternoon. The watch remained in effect through 11 PM.
The storm brought strong winds with gusts at up to 75 miles an hour, as well as punishing hail, and impacted at least 3.4 million people in the effected areas.