More severe weather pummels the central US as thousands recover from deadly tornadoes

LONDON, Ky. (AP) — More tornadoes plowed through the central U.S. on Monday, ripping apart buildings and knocking out power as people from Texas to Kentucky continued to clean up from days of severe weather that killed more than two dozen people and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings.

At least four tornadoes were confirmed in Oklahoma and Nebraska on Monday evening, according to a preliminary report from the National Weather Service.

Across Oklahoma, at least 10 homes were destroyed and multiple buildings were damaged, including a fire station that was wiped out, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. A spokesperson for the agency said they have not received any reports of injuries or deaths.

Around 115,000 customers were without power in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri, according to PowerOutage.us.

Parts of several highways were also closed due to flooding or storm damage.

In northwest Arkansas, severe weather caused a Halsey concert to be canceled and a municipal airport had to close temporarily Monday night so crews could remove debris from the field. And in Oklahoma, Tulsa Public Schools canceled all afterschool activities.

Northern Texas saw softball-sized hail measuring 4 1/2 inches (11.4 centimeters) in diameter, according to Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist with the service's Weather Prediction Center.

Earlier Monday in St. Louis, where officials estimated a Friday tornado damaged 5,000 buildings and may cost well over $1 billion, the mayor warned 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 and killed at least 19 people, most of them in southeastern Laurel County.

In London, Kentucky, where the devastation was centered, the small airport became a beehive of cleanup work after it took a direct hit from a tornado. Small aircraft stored there had large dents in them and even wings ripped open. 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.

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

The risk of severe storms moves into Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee on Tuesday, the weather service said.

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 Nantz, 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 mourned 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 the darkness and chaos, the fire department said on social media.

St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said five people died, 38 were injured and more than 5,000 homes were affected by an EF3 tornado with winds up to 150 mph (240 kph) that slammed areas north and west of downtown Friday. Spencer has estimated that damages will exceed $1.6 billion.

“Eight miles of pure destruction, at times a mile wide," Spencer said at a Monday news conference. “We’re talking about thousands of buildings, thousands of families are being displaced.”

The city is awaiting a disaster declaration from the governor’s office as a first step to getting federal assistance.

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, expressed frustration over the federal response to a deadly March storm.

“I’m not happy about the fact we’re still waiting from all of that damage two months ago," Hawley said.

Acting Federal Emergency Management Agency 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 that FEMA would coordinate federal assistance “when deemed necessary.”

Spencer said during a news conference Monday evening that emergency protocols put in place in 2021 were not followed, possibly preventing sirens being activated to warn residents about the tornado.

She said it was not clear whose responsibility it was to let the community know about the emergency but that the fire department will do so moving forward.

In Texas, several tornadoes touched down west of Fort Worth on Sunday, including an EF1 with peak winds of 105 mph (169 kph) that caused damage in and around Gordon, the weather service said Monday.

This story has been updated to correct that Wilburton is in Oklahoma, not Texas.

See more photos from the severe storms in the South and Midwest here.

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

Volunteers help go through the remains of a home looking for what they could salvage in the Sunshine Hills neighborhood in London, Ky., Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Volunteers sort clothing into bins for distribution at the command center set up at the London-Corbin Airport in London, Ky., Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Angela Lewis goes through the remains of a house that was destroyed by severe weather in the Sunshine Hills neighborhood in London, Ky., Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Volunteers load a dump truck with debris during cleanup efforts after severe storms in the Sunshine Hills neighborhood in London, Ky., Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Volunteers load a dump truck with debris during cleanup efforts after severe weather in the Sunshine Hills neighborhood in London, Ky., Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Donovan Queen, right, hands Dam Barnett some photographs that he dug out of the remains of his home in the Sunshine Hills neighborhood in London, Ky., Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Workers pile debris from storm damage into piles for disposal at the London-Corbin Airport in London, Ky., Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Volunteers sort food and clothing for distribution at the command center at the London-Corbin Airport in London, Ky., Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Volunteers deliver water to a command center at the London-Corbin Airport in London, Ky., Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

A volunteer sorts through supplies for distribution to families affected by severe storms at the London-Corbin Airport in London, Ky., Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

In this photo provided by the Laurel County Fire Department is Major Leslie Ross Leatherman, who died in the line of duty on Friday, May 16, 2025, the department announced, as severe storms hit Laurel County, Ky. (Laurel County Fire Department via AP)

The remains of a kitchen surrounded by debris after severe storms in the Sunshine Hills neighborhood in London, Ky., Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

A volunteer goes through the remains of a home looking for what could be salvaged in the Sunshine Hills neighborhood in London, Ky., Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

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)

A billboard and Speedway gas station are damaged, Sunday, May 18, 2025, along Highway 27 in Somerset, Ky., after a severe storm passed through the area. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A resident holds her grandson's tory train as she looks for salvageable items of her daughter's destroyed home, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in London, Ky., after a severe storm passed through the area. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Edwina Wilson stands in what is left of her destroyed home, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in London, Ky., after a severe storm passed through the area. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Macey Coffey carries salvageable items from what isleft of Edwina Wilson's destroyed home, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in London, Ky., after a severe storm passed through the area. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Edwina Wilson holds a photo she found in what is left of her destroyed home, 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)

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)

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)

A piano rests atop what is left of the destroyed Sunshine Hill Baptist Church, 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)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)