ST. LOUIS -- Dangerous storms in the Midwest produced dozens of tornadoes for the second-consecutive day Tuesday, demolishing a racetrack grandstand and damaging buildings in an animal park in Missouri.
Two deaths, both in Missouri, were blamed on the severe weather that started Monday night in the Southern Plains and moved to the northeast. Missouri and parts of Illinois and Arkansas were in the cross hairs Tuesday. By today, the storm will move into the Great Lakes region, where it will weaken. But another storm system was gathering steam for later this week, potentially covering an area from Texas to Chicago, according to the National Weather Service.
The skies grew dark over St. Louis before nightfall Tuesday and a tornado warning was issued for the city and surrounding suburbs, but the storm passed overhead without producing the rotation that often spawns tornadoes and the city was mostly spared except for heavy rain.
A tornado early Tuesday near Tulsa International Airport injured one person and damaged about a dozen homes. The airport was unscathed, but passengers were moved into shelters for about 30 minutes and several flights were delayed.
Kim MacLeod, a spokesman for the Tulsa area emergency management department, said crews rescued a man who was pinned under a tree.
Storms Monday evening flipped campers at Lucas Oil Speedway in Hickory County, Mo., injuring seven people, four of whom were taken to hospitals. The speedway's grandstand also was destroyed, forcing cancellation of racing this weekend that was expected to draw about 3,000 campers.
Another twister Tuesday afternoon hit a drive-thru wild-animal park in southern Missouri. Webster County emergency management director Tom Simmons said buildings were damaged at Wild Animal Safari near Strafford, but there were no reports that people or animals were injured. All of the animals were accounted for.
Simmons said about a half-dozen homes were damaged in the county. A tractor-trailer was blown off a highway.
Heavy rain was called a contributing factor in the deaths of two people in a traffic accident Tuesday near Springfield, Mo. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said an SUV skidded across the center of U.S. 160 and struck a tractor-trailer, killing both people in the SUV, Brandon Beasley, 23, and his 24-year-old wife, Christin, of Willard, Mo.
Missouri authorities also reported several water rescues from flash flooding. Among them was an 18-year-old woman who was swept off a flooded road near Joplin on Monday and stranded overnight until residents heard her yelling. She had only minor injuries.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson declared a state of emergency, citing worsening flood concerns and soil inundation, as well as forecasts calling severe storms and possible tornadoes into today.
Heavy snowmelt from the north and significant spring rains have led to waves of flooding in Missouri, and President Donald Trump on Monday issued a major disaster declaration for 13 counties in the state damaged by March flooding.
The Missouri River is expected to reach major flood stage by the end of the week at Jefferson City, Hermann, St. Charles and elsewhere. The levee near Jefferson City's airport holds back water up to 30 feet, Cole County emergency manager Bill Farr said, but the National Weather Service expects a crest of 32.3 feet Thursday. Sandbagging won't help because the levee is too long, he said.
"We're just keeping our fingers crossed," Farr said.
Information for this article was contributed by Jim Salter, Heather Hollingsworth, Hannah Grabenstein and David A. Lieb of The Associated Press.
A Section on 05/22/2019