Storms damage homes, trees and vehicles in Oklahoma and Kansas; multiple tornadoes reported | News, sports, jobs

photo by: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP

People walk through a Bridgeland neighborhood as families begin cleaning up storm damage, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Cypress, Texas.

WICHITA – Fast-moving storms with high winds, large hail and apparent tornadoes ravaged Oklahoma and Kansas, blowing roofs off homes and blocking roads with downed trees and downed power lines. Meanwhile, Houston made progress in recovering from last week’s deadly storms.

Nearly two dozen homes were damaged in western Oklahoma’s Custer County, with two people injured in Butler, state emergency officials said late Sunday. Damage was reported to a nursing home in the city of Hydro.

Wind gusts of more than 60 miles per hour were reported in many areas as the storms, which began Sunday afternoon and lasted through the night, moved eastward. In central Kansas, a wind gust of 100 mph was reported at Salina Airport, the National Weather Service said. Overturned tractor-trailer trucks were reported in Newton and Sedgwick counties, the office said.

“Due to the damage and debris, please do not go outside unless absolutely necessary!” the town of Halstead posted online.

The weather service said it received 13 tornado reports from Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado on Sunday.

Schools were closed Monday in several communities that were cleaning up. More storms were forecast for later in the day.

Houston residents hit by deadly storms last week received good news when officials said power had been restored Sunday to a majority of the hundreds of thousands left in the dark and without air conditioning during hot and humid weather.

Thursday’s storms left at least seven dead and brought much of Houston to a standstill. Thunderstorms and hurricane-force winds tore through the city of more than 2 million residents, reducing businesses and other structures to rubble, uprooting trees and shattering glass in downtown skyscrapers.

By Sunday evening, power had been restored to 88% of customers in the Houston area, said Paul Lock, a spokesman for CenterPoint Energy.

“We expect everyone to be back to work on Wednesday,” Lock said.

More than 225,000 homes and businesses in Texas were without electricity Monday morning, mostly in the Houston area. More than 1,800 customers were without power in Louisiana, which was also hit by high winds and a suspected tornado.

The weather service said Houston residents should expect “sunny, warm and increasingly humid days.” Highs of around 90 degrees were expected this week, with heat indexes likely approaching 102 degrees by mid-week.