DAYTON, Ohio — People from Kansas to Pennsylvania picked up the pieces from a swarm of tornadoes and braced for more twisters Wednesday amid a record-breaking stretch of violent weather.
North Texas remained under a tornado watch until the evening, while the National Weather Service issued a flash-flood warning along the Oklahoma-Arkansas line as strong thunderstorms brought a new round of rain to eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas, where the Arkansas River is expected to crest at historic levels.
In the east, multiple tornado warnings were issued for New Jersey and Pennsylvania. At least three tornadoes were confirmed in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
In Kansas, the National Weather Service was still assessing the strength of a twister that injured at least 15 people Tuesday, three of them seriously, and damaged homes, trees and power lines in Douglas and Leavenworth counties in eastern Kansas.
“I’m just glad I found my two dogs alive,” said Mark Duffin, of Linwood, Kansas. “Wife’s alive, family’s alive, I’m alive. So, that’s it.”
Duffin, 48, learned from his wife and a television report that the large tornado was headed toward his home about 30 miles west of Kansas City.
The next thing he knew, the walls of his house were coming down, he said.
Tuesday marked the 12th straight day that at least eight tornadoes were reported to the National Weather Service. The previous record for consecutive days with that many tornadoes was an 11-day stretch in 1980. The weather service website showed at least 27 reports of tornadoes Tuesday, most in Kansas and Missouri but also in Pennsylvania and Illinois.