Sweltering heat, storms and possible twisters were expected to hit the southern plains and south-eastern states on
Memorial Day, after a spate of deadly tornadoes and flooding.
Temperatures around 100F (38C) were forecast from Jacksonville,
Florida, up the south-east into Macon and Savannah in Georgia and on to Charleston, South Carolina, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
“This is super hot for this time of year,” said John Deese, a NWS forecaster in Peachtree, Georgia, near Atlanta. “This is a heat wave across the south, and it’s going to be here for a while.”
Deese predicted high temperatures through the week, staying in the mid to high 90s.
The risk of strong tornadoes is moderate but they remain possible through the week for the south-eastern plains states, already hit by lethal twisters last week, forecasters said.
The latest severe tornado killed two people in El Reno, Oklahoma late on Saturday, injured at least 29 people and left hundreds homeless, officials said. Rescue workers searched for survivors in the rubble left by the tornado that devastated parts of the small community near Oklahoma City.
The NWS said a second tornado touched down in the Tulsa area early on Sunday, damaging structures, uprooting trees and toppling power lines.
Pete Snyder with the NWS said officials had confirmed that a tornado caused damage in the Tulsa suburb of Sapulpa and surrounding areas. Snyder said the area also experienced damage from straight-line winds that officials say exceeded 80mph.
The tornado was spawned by a powerful storm system that rolled through the state. Four more people were killed in the storm in Oklahoma, CNN reported.
At least seven people were killed by storms last week.
States including Nebraska, Oklahoma and Kansas, as well as parts of Ohio, will remain under flood watches and warnings through the week as rains, wind, hail and possible twisters are in the forecast, said David Roth of the NWS Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
The south-east from Florida to Virginia will “stay hot”, Roth said. “This weather pattern is just parked, persistent.”