15 killed, over 200 homes flattened after powerful storms hit US

At least 15 people were killed and hundreds were left injured after powerful storms hit Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas on May 26. 

The storm left a wide trail of destruction obliterating homes and destroying a truck stop where dozens sought shelter in a restroom during the latest deadly weather to strike the central US. 

The area from north of Dallas to the northwest corner of Arkansas saw the most damage from the storms, and later in the day, the system threatened to deliver more severe weather to other regions of the Midwest.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced at a press conference on Sunday that seven deaths had been recorded in Cooke County, Texas, close to the Oklahoma border, when a tornado on Saturday night tore through a rural region close to a mobile home park. 

Two children, aged two and five, were among the deceased. As to the county sheriff, three family members were discovered deceased in a single residence. 

Two more people were murdered and houses were devastated by storms in Oklahoma; guests at an outdoor wedding were among the injured, along with five people in Arkansas and one person in Kentucky. Throughout the region, tens of thousands of people were without power.

In Texas, about 100 people were injured and more than 200 homes and structures destroyed, said Abbott, sitting in front of a ravaged truck stop near the small agricultural community of Valley View.

The area was among the hardest hit, with winds reaching an estimated 135 mph (217 kph), officials said.