Killer storms leave 43 people dead and hundreds of homes destroyed

Traffic had been at a standstill for hours in West Texas where Interstate 10 splits into Interstate 20, before it began slowly moving Monday.

And one person drowned Sunday in Alabama floodwaters, local officials said. He said Monday a fuel truck was patrolling the area.

The death toll in the Southeast linked to severe weather rose to 19 on Sunday when Alabama authorities found the body of a 22-year-old man whose vehicle was swept away while attempting to cross a bridge; a 5-year-old’s body was recovered for that incident Saturday. The search resumed at daybreak Monday. According to official reports, more than 50 people have been injured.

The governors of New Mexico, Texas and Missouri declared states of emergency for all or parts of their states Sunday to better handle storm damage.

The Department of Transportation says the freeway initially reopened Monday morning in Santa Rosa and Tucumcari. At least 10,000 people in eastern New Mexico were without power on Sunday.

The Mississippi River neared a potential record crest, after an unusual amount of late-fall rain had the river already high before torrential downpours that began Saturday. The affected areas could receive more than eight inches of snow, the agency said, with possible snowdrifts higher than six feet. “Dangerous flooding will extend from north Texas to central IL”.

A total of 15 people in Garland also sustained injuries, while about 600 structures were damaged in what Barineau called “total devastation“. “The poor little girl didn’t make it”. Some areas have reported local flooding from heavy rains overnight and the previous week. It seems that “disastrous” flooding will take place in Eastern Oklahoma, The National Weather Service reported.

Over 2,100 United States flights were canceled and another 3,700 were delayed Monday, according to tracking service FlightAware. Nearly 1,350 departures and arrivals were canceled Sunday – 778 of them at Dallas-Fort Worth International alone. “Everybody’s just sleeping in their cars”, said Randazzo, who added that the roadway was snow-packed and icy.

With treacherous travel conditions, many who did not have to take to the roads or the skies counted their good fortune.

The National Weather Service warned of “blizzard conditions” from west Texas into Kansas, and “hazardous ice accumulations” in Oklahoma.

Other parts of the city saw damage, too, and assessments will be completed this week.

A tornado watch means a storm is likely, while a warning means a storm or storms have been sighted.

A witness reported the soldiers’ vehicle driving onto a flooded road and immediately getting swept downstream, the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office said.

Associated Press reported that at least 19 people have died in Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama between Wednesday and Saturday. State officials say there have been more than 200 road closures statewide.

At least 11 people were killed in the Dallas area after a ferocious storm toppled homes, cut power lines and snarled transport for people returning from the Christmas holidays.

“A variety of risky weather conditions will continue across the middle of the country through Sunday”, it said.

As residents of North Texas surveyed the destruction from deadly tornadoes, the same storm system brought winter storm woes to the Midwest on Monday, amplified flooding that’s already blamed for more than a dozen deaths and prompted hundreds of flight cancellations.

Weather service reports that storm Goliath has brought 41 inches of snow in parts of New Mexico and more than 9 inches of snow in parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

Danny Arriago gathers items from his apartment at the Landmark at Lake Village West apartments where homes were struck by a tornado two days earlier in Garland, Texas, Dec. 28, 2015.