Storms and tornadoes continue to ravage central U.S. after killing dozens

Redeemer Lutheran Church is damaged, Sunday, May 18, 2025, along Highway 27 in Somerset, Ky., after a severe storm passed through the area. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

LONDON, Ky. — Forecasters warned Monday that more tornados and storms were possible in the central U.S. as people from Texas to Kentucky cleaned up from severe weather that has killed more than two dozen people in four days.

In St. Louis, where officials estimated a tornado Friday damaged 5,000 buildings and may cost about $1 billion, the mayor warned Monday that federal assistance could take weeks.

Kentucky has been hardest hit by the storms. A devastating tornado late Friday into early Saturday damaged hundreds of homes, tossed vehicles, left many homeless, and killed at least 19 people, most of them in southeastern Laurel County.

In London where the devastation was centered, the small airport became a beehive of cleanup work after it took a direct hit from a tornado. Officials were using it as a base to get water, food, diapers and other supplies out to the community.

“We have 1,001 things going on. But we’re managing it. And we’re going to get it all cleaned up,” said London Mayor Randall Weddle said.

Officials in Kansas and Texas also were evaluating damage from late Sunday storms.

Forecasters said tornados could be possible centered in eastern Oklahoma on Monday with the risk of severe storms moving into Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Kentucky cleans up

The Kentucky storms that killed 19 people were part of a weather system that caused seven deaths in Missouri and two in northern Virginia, authorities said.

Lonnie Nantz hid in a hallway with his wife, two daughters and a grandson as the one-story brick home they bought near London in 1977 was destroyed around them. They were trapped in rubble for about 20 minutes in the midnight darkness before they were rescued unharmed.

“I don’t know why this happened. I’ve tried to live a good life all my life. I’ve still got the faith,” said the 77-year-old who went to church as always on Sunday.

London city worker Ashley Taylor was back on the job Monday loading doughnuts to take to a hospital and dispatch center even though there was a tarp on her roof. She was lucky — the houses across her street were destroyed late Friday night.

She survived the storm with nine other people and three dogs in the crawl space of a neighbor’s home,

“We prayed like never before — and just thankful for everything God did for us,” Taylor said.

In surrounding Laurel County, first responders were mourning one of their own.

Fellow firefighters found the body of Laurel County Fire Major Leslie Leatherman on top of a woman he was shielding from the storm’s fury as he answered calls during the worst of the storm. The woman was yelling for help and they were in a field across from a destroyed subdivision.

The injured woman turned out to be Leatherman’s wife and officials aren’t sure if he knew who he was protecting in all the darkness and chaos, the fire department said on social media.

18 years later a city in Kansas spared

Forecasters on Sunday night issued a tornado emergency for Greensburg, Kansas, which had 12 people killed and 90 per cent of the town destroyed by a 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometre) wide EF5 tornado with winds of 205 mph (330kph).

This time the storm spared the town. Greensburg posted of social media power was out but it was safe after the “storm scare.”

Tornadoes in Kansas also carved a 20-mile (32-kilometre) path through Stafford County and Reno County. While damage was extensive, no injuries or deaths were reported.

St. Louis waits for FEMA

In St. Louis, Mayor Cara Spencer said five people died, 38 were injured and more than 5,000 homes were affected by a tornado that moved north and west of downtown Friday.

“This was an unprecedented storm,” she said at a Monday news conference. “Eight miles of pure destruction — at times a mile wide. We’re talking about thousands of buildings. Thousands of families are being displaced.”

The mayor said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was not in St. Louis yet and while local, state and federal officials were working to get the agency’s resources, it could take weeks.

She said anyone claiming to work for FEMA now need to be reported to the police as frauds.

Acting FEMA Chief David Richardson said last week he plans to shift responsibility for disaster recovery to states this year as part of an agencywide transformation and FEMA would coordinate federal assistance “when deemed necessary.”

About 130 miles (210 kilometres) south, a tornado in Scott County killed two people, injured several others and destroyed several homes, Sheriff Derick Wheetley wrote on social media.

In Texas, possible tornados caused significant damage in Mingus and Gordon about 70 miles (112 kilometres) west of Fort Worth. Schools were damaged and classes canceled the rest of the week. No injuries or deaths were reported.

National Weather Service cuts

The multi-day severe weather came not long after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration massively cut staffing of National Weather Service offices, with outside experts worrying about how it would affect warnings in disasters such as tornadoes.

The office in Jackson, Kentucky, which was responsible for the area around London, Kentucky, had a March 2025 vacancy rate of 25 per cent; the Louisville, Kentucky, weather service staff was down 29 per cent; and the St. Louis office was down 16 per cent, according to calculations by weather service employees obtained by The Associated Press. The Louisville office also was without a permanent boss — the meteorologist in charge — as of March, according to the staffing data.

Experts said any vacancy rate above 20 per cent is a critical problem.

Article by Bruce Schreiner.

Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; and Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed to this report.