More storms take aim at central US, where many are digging out from tornado damage

LONDON, Ky. (AP) — More severe storms were expected to roll across the central U.S. this week following the weather-related deaths of more than two dozen people and a devastating Kentucky tornado.

The National Weather Service warned over the weekend that a “multitude of hazardous weather” would impact the U.S. over the next several days — from thunderstorms and potentially baseball-sized hail on the Plains, to heavy mountain snow in the West and dangerous heat in the South.

Areas at risk of thunderstorms include communities in Kentucky and Missouri that were hit by Friday’s tornadoes.

St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson warned people to get ready for approaching weather and suggested inviting in neighbors if their homes were in questionable condition.

“We’re asking people to prepare for this weather. Please find a safe place to go while the weather is coming in. Get there before it arrives and that’s going to assist the fire department,” he said during a news conference on Sunday. “It’s going to take your help to get through this next wave of storms.”

In London, Kentucky, people whose houses were destroyed scrambled Sunday to put tarps over salvageable items or haul them away for safe storage, said Zach Wilson. His parents' house was in ruins, their belongings scattered.

“We're trying the hardest to get anything that looks of value and getting it protected, especially pictures and papers and things like that,” he said.

Here's the latest on the recent storms, some tornado history and where to look out for the next weather impacts.

At least 19 people were killed and 10 seriously injured in Kentucky, where a tornado on Friday damaged hundreds of homes and tossed vehicles in southeastern Laurel County. 0fficials said the death toll could rise and that three people remained in critical condition Sunday.

Wilson said he raced to his parents' home in London, Kentucky, after the storm.

“It was dark and still raining but every lightning flash, it was lighting up your nightmares: Everything was gone,” he said. “The thankful thing was me and my brother got here and got them out of where they had barricaded themselves.”

Survey teams were expected on the ground Monday so the state can apply for federal disaster assistance, Gov. Andy Beshear said. Some of the two dozen state roads that had closures could take days to reopen.

In St. Louis, five people died and 38 were injured as the storm system swept through on Friday, according to Mayor Cara Spencer. More than 5,000 homes in the city were affected, she said.

On Sunday, city inspectors were going through damaged areas to condemn unsafe structures, Spencer said. She asked for people not to sightsee in damaged areas.

A tornado that started in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton traveled at least 8 miles (13 kilometers), had 150-mph (241-kph) winds and had a maximum width of 1 mile (1.6 kilometers), according to the weather service. It touched down in the area of Forest Park, home to the St. Louis Zoo and the site of the 1904 World’s Fair and the Olympic Games that same year.

In Scott County, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) south of St. Louis, a tornado killed two people, injured several others and destroyed multiple homes, Sheriff Derick Wheetley wrote on social media.

The weather system spawned tornadoes in Wisconsin and temporarily enveloped parts of Illinois — including Chicago — in a pall of dust.

Two people were killed in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., by falling trees while driving.

The storms hit after the Trump administration cut staffing of weather service offices, with outside experts worrying about how it would affect warnings in disasters such as tornadoes.

The majority of the world's tornadoes occur in the U.S., which has about 1,200 annually.

Researchers in 2018 found that deadly tornadoes were happening less frequently in the traditional “Tornado Alley” of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas and more frequently in parts of the more densely populated and tree-filled South.

They can happen any time of day or night, but certain times of the year bring peak “tornado season.” That’s from May into early June for the southern Plains and earlier in the spring on the Gulf Coast.

The deadliest tornado in Kentucky’s history was hundreds of yards wide when it tore through downtown Louisville’s business district in March 1890, collapsing multistory buildings including one with 200 people inside. Seventy-six people were killed.

The last tornado to cause mass fatalities in Kentucky was a December 2021 twister that lasted almost five hours. It traveled some 165 miles (266 kilometers), leaving a path of destruction that included 57 dead and more than 500 injured, according to the weather service. Officials recorded at least 41 tornadoes during that storm, which killed at least 77 people statewide.

On the same day, a deadly tornado struck the St. Louis area, killing six people at an Amazon facility in nearby Illinois.

The weather service’s Storm Prediction Center warned in a social media post of enhanced risks of severe thunderstorms Monday across parts of the Plains into the Ozarks, with the possibility of tornadoes, very large hail and damaging wind. Storms were expected to develop in the afternoon and persist into the evening.

Meanwhile, triple-digit temperatures were forecast for parts of south Texas with the potential to break daily records. The hot, dry air also sets the stage for critical wildfire conditions through early this week in southern New Mexico and West Texas.

Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

Hailee Allen holds a family picture saved from Lynn and Don White's home, Saturday, May 17, 2025, in London, Ky (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A destroyed home is seen from above, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in London, Ky., after a severe storm passed through the area. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Family friend Melvin Brock, right, finds a photo as he sifts through what is left of Wilson's destroyed home, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in London, Ky., after a severe storm passed through the area. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A path of destroyed homes is seen, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in London, Ky., after a severe storm passed through the area. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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)

An American Flag is posted near destroyed homes, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in London, Ky., after a severe storm passed through the area. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

SYDNEY (AP) — Two gunmen shot dead at least 11 people on Sunday at a Jewish event being held at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, Australian authorities said, declaring it a terrorist attack. One gunman was fatally shot by police and the second arrested.

The suspect was in critical condition, authorities said. A massive emergency response was underway, with injured people loaded into ambulances.

At least 29 people were confirmed wounded, said Mal Lanyon, the police commissioner for New South Wales state, where Sydney is located. Two of those hurt were police officers.

“This attack was designed to target Sydney's Jewish community,” the state's Premier Chris Minns said. The massacre was declared a terrorist attack due to the event targeted and weapons used, Lanyon said.

Hundreds had gathered for an event at Bondi Beach called Chanukah by the Sea, which was celebrating the start of the Hanukkah Jewish festival.

Dramatic footage apparently filmed by a member of the public and broadcast on Australian television channels showed someone appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man’s weapon at him.

Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, was waiting for his family nearby when he heard shots, he told The Associated Press. He dropped the beer he was carrying for his brother and ran.

“You heard a few pops, and I freaked out and ran away. ... I started sprinting. I just had that intuition. I sprinted as quickly as I could," Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes.

“Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible," Moran said.

Police said their operation was “ongoing" and that a “number of suspicious items located in the vicinity” were being examined by specialist officers, including an improvised explosive device found in one of the suspect's cars. Emergency services were called to Campbell Parade about 6.45 p.m. responding to reports of shots being fired.

Local news outlets spoke to distressed and bloody bystanders. Lanyon said the death toll from the shooting was “fluid” and that injured people were still arriving at hospitals.

“Our heart bleeds for Australia’s Jewish community tonight,” Minns told reporters in Sydney. “I can only imagine the pain that they’re feeling right now to see their loved ones killed as they celebrate this ancient holiday.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement that his thoughts were with all those affected.

“The scenes in Bondi are shocking and distressing,” he said. “Police and emergency responders are on the ground working to save lives.”

Mass shooting deaths in Australia are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws and made it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.

Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014, and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.

In 2022, two police officers were shot and killed by Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state. The three shooters in that incident, conspiracy theorists who hated the police, were also shot and killed by officers after a six-hour siege in the region of Wieambilla, along with one of their neighbors.

McGuirk reported from Melbourne, Australia, and Graham-McLay from Wellington, New Zealand.

Bystanders stay where police cordon off an area at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers standby at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)