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A series of powerful storms swept over the central and southern U.S. over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, killing at least 22 people and leaving a wide trail of destroyed homes, businesses and power outages. The destructive storms caused deaths in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky and were just north of an oppressive, early season heat wave setting records from south Texas to Florida. Forecasters said the severe weather could shift to the East Coast later Monday, May 27, and warned millions of people outdoors for the holiday to watch the skies. A tornado watch was issued from North Carolina to Maryland. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who earlier declared a state of emergency, said at a Monday press conference that five people had died in his state. The fifth death was a 54-year-old man who had a heart attack while cutting fallen trees in Caldwell County in western Kentucky, the governor’s office said. The death toll of 22 also included seven deaths in Cooke County, Texas, from a Saturday tornado that tore through a mobile home park, officials said, and eight deaths across Arkansas. Two people died in Mayes County, Oklahoma, which is east of Tulsa, authorities said. The injured included guests at an outdoor wedding. The latest community left with shattered homes and no power was the tiny Kentucky town of Charleston, which took a direct hit Sunday night from a tornado that the governor said appeared to be on the ground for 40 miles. “It’s a big mess,” said Rob Linton, who lives in Charleston and is the fire chief of nearby Dawson Springs, hit by a tornado in 2021. “Trees down everywhere. Houses moved. Power lines are down. No utilities whatsoever — no water, no power.” Further east, some rural areas of Hopkins County hit by the 2021 tornado around the community of Barnsley were damaged again Sunday night, said county Emergency Management Director Nick Bailey. “There were a lot of people that were just getting their lives put back together and then this,” Bailey said. “Almost the same spot, the same houses and everything.” Beshear has traveled to the area where his father grew up several times for ceremonies where people who lost everything were given the keys to their new homes. The visits came after a series of tornadoes on a terrifying night in December 2021 killed 81 people in Kentucky. “It could have been much worse,” Beshear said of the Memorial Day weekend storms. “The people of Kentucky are very weather aware with everything we’ve been through.” More than 400,000 customers across the eastern U.S. were without power Monday afternoon, including about 125,000 in Kentucky. Twelve states reported at least 10,000 outages earlier in the day, according to PowerOutage.us. The area on highest alert for severe weather Monday is a broad swath of the eastern U.S., from Alabama to New York. President Joe Biden sent condolences to the families who had people killed. He said the Federal Emergency Management Agency is on the ground conducting damage assessments and he has contacted governors to see what federal support they might need. It’s been a grim month of tornadoes and severe weather in the nation’s midsection. Tornadoes in Iowa last week left at least five people dead and dozens injured. Storms killed eight people in Houston earlier this month. The severe thunderstorms and deadly twisters have spawned during a historically bad season for tornadoes, at a time when climate change contributes to the severity of storms around the world. April had the second-highest number of tornadoes on record in the country. Harold Brooks, a senior scientist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, said a persistent pattern of warm, moist air is to blame for the string of tornadoes over the past two months. That warm moist air is at the northern edge of a heat dome bringing temperatures typically seen at the height of summer to late May. The heat index — a combination of air temperature and humidity to indicate how the heat feels to the human body — is expected to reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius) in parts of south Texas on Monday. Record highs are forecast for Brownsville, San Antonio and Dallas. In Florida, Melbourne and Ft. Pierce set new daily record highs Monday. Both hit 98 degrees. Miami set a record high of 96 degrees on Sunday. By Bruce Schreiner and Julio Cortez, The Associated Press. Schreiner reported from Louisville, Kentucky. Associated Press reporters Acacia Coronado in Austin, Texas, and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Several tornadoes were reported in Iowa and Illinois as storms downed power lines and trees on Friday, May 24, just days after a deadly twister devastated one small town. The enormous storm system began overnight in Nebraska before traveling across central Iowa and into Illinois. According to the National Weather Service, a weak tornado touched down in suburban Des Moines. The Service was also assessing damage from several other reported twisters south of Iowa City and near Moline, Illinois. No injuries or deaths were reported. The storm also brought rain that was heavy in some areas of Iowa, where totals have reached as much as 8 inches over the past week, according to the weather service. Also on Friday, a church caught fire in Madison, Wisconsin, as a thunderstorm rolled through the area. Nate Moll, who lives two doors down from Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, said he heard a “zap zap zap” electrical sound, followed by a loud crack of thunder. Firefighters extinguished the blaze. In Oklahoma, a tornado was on the ground for about an hour Thursday evening in Jackson County and neighboring counties as a slow-moving storm moved through, according to Ryan Bunker, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Norman, Oklahoma, office. News outlets reported downed power lines, outages, and damage to some structures. Severe weather is expected in areas around the U.S. throughout the long Memorial Day weekend, with a substantial risk of tornadoes Saturday in the Great Plains, notably Kansas and Oklahoma. In New Mexico, strong winds and low humidity could fuel wildfires. “It’s really important if you have outdoor plans to make sure that you remain aware of approaching thunderstorms,” said Matt Elliott, warning coordination meteorologist with the weather service’s Storm Prediction Center. “May is the peak time of year for tornadoes and for severe weather across the United States,” Elliott said. The latest severe weather comes as residents of Greenfield, Iowa, a community of about 2,000 people, have been cleaning up after a strong tornado on Tuesday. Friday’s storm system inflicted heavy rains, dime-sized hail and wind gusts of 75 mph on a community still recovering after four people were killed and 35 others injured when a tornado destroyed more than 100 homes and hit a nearby wind farm. Among those killed were Dean and Pam Wiggins, said their grandson Tom Wiggins. On Thursday, he tried to find any of his grandparents’ mementos that remained after the tornado demolished their home, leaving little more than its foundation. He described them as “incredibly loved by not only our family but the entire town.” Not far away, Bill Yount was cleaning up. “It’s like somebody took a bomb,” said Yount, gesturing to the land — covered with wood, debris, trees stripped of their leaves, heavy machinery and equipment to clean up the mess. He waited out the storm in a closet. The National Weather Service determined that three separate powerful tornadoes carved paths totaling 130 miles across Iowa on Tuesday. According to Elliott with the Storm Prediction Center, Saturday’s storms could bring extremely large hail in addition to tornadoes. On Sunday, the risk of strong tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds shifts into parts of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. On Monday, the Mid-Atlantic region could see some severe thunderstorms. “Tornado risks increase in May because cold, dry air that occasionally flows down from Canada clashes with moist, warm air from the Gulf of Mexico and strong upper-level winds in the atmosphere,” Elliott said.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The worst drivers in the U.S. can be found in New Mexico. That’s according to the results of a study by Forbes Advisor. A report on the study refers to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which shows a 12.7% increase in the number of fatality crashes between 2019 and 2023. In addition, a 2023 study conducted by AAA revealed that most drivers admit to engaging in some sort of dangerous behavior, such as speeding, distractive driving and aggressive driving. The Forbes study analyzed data from all 50 states using an eight-key scoring metric that included: Total number of fatal car accidents per 100,000 licensed drivers (20% of score); Number of drunk drivers (BAC of 0.08+) involved in fatal car accidents per 100,000 licensed drivers (14% of score); Number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver per 100,000 licensed drivers (14% of score); Number of fatal car accidents involving a drowsy driver per 100,000 licensed drivers (14% of score); Number of fatal car accidents involving a driver who was driving too fast for conditions, speeding or racing per 100,000 licensed drivers (14% of score); Number of fatal car accidents involving a driver who disobeyed traffic signs, traffic signals or a traffic officer per 100,000 licensed drivers (14% of score); Number of DUI arrests per 100,000 licensed drivers (7% of score); and Number of drivers who looked at a phone per mile (3% of score). Based on this information, the Top 5 states with the worst drivers include the following: No. 1: New Mexico (score 100/100) According to the study, New Mexico records the highest rate of fatal car accidents caused by distracted driving, with 10.16 incidents per 100,000 licensed drivers. The state ranks second for fatal accidents in which the driver was speeding, driving too fast for condition, or racing (9.66 per 100,000 licensed drivers). The state has the nation’s third highest overall rate of fatal car accidents (25.65 per 100,000 licensed drivers), as well as the third highest rate of drunk drivers involved in fatal accidents (8.11 per 100,000 licensed drivers). New Mexico is sixth in the nation for fatal accidents involving a driver who ignored traffic signs, signals or officers (1.39 per 100,000 licensed drivers). No. 2: Wyoming (score 96.62/100) Wyoming has the highest number of fatal car accidents involving a drowsy driver (2.93 per 100,000 licensed drivers) and ranks second in total number of fatal car accidents (25.93 per 100,000 licensed drivers). It also has the third highest number of both DUI arrests (534.69 per 100,000 licensed drivers) and the number of fatal car accidents involving a driver who was driving too fast for conditions, speeding or racing (9.42 per 100,000 licensed drivers). The state ranks fourth for the number of drunk drivers involved in fatal car accidents (7.87 per 100,000 licensed drivers) and fifth for the number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver (2.93 per 100,000 licensed drivers). No. 3: Texas (score 95.12/100) Texas has the second highest number of drunk drivers involved in fatal car accidents (8.32 per 100,000 licensed drivers) and ranks as the fourth highest in the number of fatal car accidents involving a drowsy driver (1.29 per 100,000 licensed drivers). It’s also the sixth highest for the number of fatal car accidents involving a driver who was driving too fast for conditions, speeding or racing (6.67 per 100,000 licensed drivers). The Lone Star state is 10th highest for both the number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver (1.91 per 100,000 licensed drivers) and the number of fatal car accidents involving a driver who disobeyed traffic signs, traffic signals or a traffic officer (1.23 per 100,000 licensed drivers). No. 4: Oklahoma (score 92.86/100) Oklahoma has the sixth highest total number of fatal car accidents (24.32 per 100,000 licensed drivers). The Sooner State ranks eighth highest for both the number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver (2.01 per 100,000 licensed drivers) and the number of fatal car accidents involving a driver who was driving too fast for conditions, speeding or racing (5.66 per 100,000 licensed drivers). It ranks ninth highest for the number of drunk drivers involved in fatal car accidents (6.3 per 100,000 licensed drivers), as well as ninth highest in the number of fatal car accidents involving a driver who disobeyed traffic signs, traffic signals or a traffic officer (1.25 per 100,000 licensed drivers). No. 5: Montana (score 92.10/100) Montana has the highest number of drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes in the country (9.22 per 100,000 licensed drivers) and is the fifth highest in the number of fatal car accidents involving a driver who was driving too fast for conditions, speeding or racing (7.77 per 100,000 licensed drivers). Drivers in Montana also have the seventh highest number of fatal car accidents due to drowsy driving (1.03 per 100,000 licensed drivers), the eighth highest number of DUI arrests (452.49 per 100,000 licensed drivers), the 10th highest total number of fatal car accidents (22.12 per 100,000 licensed drivers) and the 11th highest number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver (1.84 per 100,000 licensed drivers). At the other end of the scale, the Top 5 states with the safest drivers include: No. 50: Massachusetts (score 0/100); No. 49: New Hampshire (score 6.06/100); No. 48: Connecticut (score 10.66/100); No. 47: New York (score 13.28/100); and No. 46: New Jersey (score 15.5/100). For a complete breakdown of the report, along with data sources, click here.

GREENFIELD, Iowa — Multiple people were killed when a tornado tore through a small town in Iowa on Tuesday, May 21, and left a wide swath of obliterated homes and crumpled cars, while the howling winds also twisted and toppled wind turbines. A video circulating on X, formerly Twitter, shows an big rig tanker truck driving right into a tornado. Just behind that truck, a semi hauling a dry van trailer was blown over. There is no information on either truck driver. Click here to view the video. After devastating Greenfield, a town of 2,000, on Tuesday the storms moved eastward to pummel parts of Illinois and Wisconsin, knocking out power to tens of thousands of customers in the two states. Greenfield’s hospital was among the buildings that were damaged in the town, which meant that at least a dozen people who were hurt had to be taken to facilities elsewhere, according to Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Alex Dinkla. “Sadly we can confirm that there have been fatalities,” Dinkla said at a news conference Tuesday night, without specifying how many. “We’re still counting at this time.” He said he thought they had accounted for all of the town’s residents but that searches would continue if anyone was reported missing. The Adair County Health System said in a Facebook post Tuesday night that it had set up a triage center at the Greenfield high school and that people who need medical attention should go there. The tornado destroyed much of Greenfield, which is located about 55 miles southwest of Des Moines, during a day that saw multiple tornadoes, giant hail and heavy rain in several states. The National Weather Service said it received 23 tornado reports Tuesday, with most in Iowa, and one each in Wisconsin and Minnesota. In Wisconsin, the weather service’s Green Bay office dispatched a staffer Wednesday morning to survey storm damage near the village of Unity in western Marathon County after law enforcement received a report from the public about a tornado on the ground about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday in that community about 55 miles east of Eau Claire, said meteorologist Roy Eckberg. He said staffers would also be visiting Outagamie County near the city of Kaukauna, some 20 miles southwest of Green Bay, to investigate significant wind damage there. Eckberg said high winds were reported Tuesday night across parts of central Wisconsin, with a wind gust of 70 mph in the city of Marshfield and with wind damage also reported to the northwest in the city of Wausau. Weather service staff would also be assessing storm damage Wednesday in southeastern Minnesota after radar indicated that a tornado touched down Tuesday night in Winona County, said Kate Abbott, a meteorologist with the agency’s La Crosse, Wisconsin, office. “With that one we did have a radar confirmed tornado, but we’re going out and survey there to make sure the damage is consistent with a tornado,” she said. Authorities announced a mandatory curfew for Greenfield and said they would only allow residents to enter the town until Wednesday morning. They also ordered media representatives to leave the city Tuesday night. In the aftermath of the storm, mounds of broken wood from homes, branches, car parts and other debris littered lots where homes once stood. Some trees still standing were stripped of their limbs and leaves. Residents helped each other salvage furniture and other belongings that were strewn in every direction. Rogue Paxton said he sheltered in the basement of his home when the storm moved through. He told WOI-TV he thought the house was lost but said his family got lucky. “But everyone else is not so much, like my brother Cody, his house just got wiped,” Paxton said. “Then you see all these people out here helping each other. … Everything’s going to be fine because we have each other, but it’s just going to be really, really rough. It is a mess.” A tornado also apparently took down several 250-foot wind turbines in southwest Iowa. Some of the turbines caught fire, sending plumes of smoke into the air. Wind farms are built to withstand tornadoes, hurricanes and other powerful winds. Mary Long, the owner of Long’s Market in downtown Greenfield, said she rode out the storm at her business in the community’s historic town square, which largely escaped damage. Long said there appeared to be widespread damage on the east and south sides of town. “I could hear this roaring, like the proverbial freight train, and then it was just done,” she said. Camille Blair said the Greenfield Chamber of Commerce office where she works closed around 2 p.m. ahead of the storm. “I can see from my house it kind of went in a straight line down the road,” she said of the tornado. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said she planned to visit Greenfield on Wednesday morning. “It was just a few weeks ago that tornadoes hit several other Iowa communities, and it’s hard to believe that it’s happened again,” she said in a statement. “Iowans are strong and resilient, and we will get through this together.” Iowa had braced for severe weather after the weather service’s Storm Prediction Center gave most of the state a high chance of seeing severe thunderstorms with the potential for strong tornadoes. The storms and tornado warnings moved into Wisconsin on Tuesday evening and night. Earlier in the day, residents to the west in Omaha, Nebraska, awoke to sirens blaring and widespread power outages as torrential rain, high winds and large hail pummeled the area. The deluge flooded basements and submerged cars. Television station KETV showed firefighters rescuing people from vehicles. In Illinois, dust storms led authorities to shut down stretches of two interstates due to low visibility. The storms followed days of extreme weather that have ravaged much of the middle section of the country. Strong winds, large hail and tornadoes swept parts of Oklahoma and Kansas late Sunday, damaging homes and injuring two in Oklahoma. Another round of storms Monday night raked Colorado and western Nebraska and saw the city of Yuma, Colorado, blanketed in hail the size of baseballs and golf balls, turning streets into rivers of water and ice. In Texas, deadly storms hit the Houston area last week, killing at least eight people. Those storms last Thursday knocked out power to hundreds of thousands for days, leaving many in the dark and without air conditioning during hot and humid weather. Hurricane-force winds reduced businesses and other structures to debris and shattered glass in downtown skyscrapers. Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the weather service, said the system is expected to turn south Wednesday, bringing more severe weather to parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and southern Missouri. The Trucker staff contributed to this report.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Average U.S. diesel prices are down for the sixth straight week. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the current price sits at $3.789 per gallon. That’s down from $3.848 per gallon on May 13 and $3.894 on May 6. Average prices are down across the nation, with the lowest along the Gulf Coast at $3.490 per gallon. In the Rocky Mountain region, the price sits at $3.746 per gallon, while along the West Coast, the price is $4.495 per gallon on average. California is still sitting above $5 a gallon at $5.049. Along the East Coast, drivers can expect to pay $3.895 per gallon on average. The EIA sees diesel fuel averaging $3.92 per gallon in the second quarter of 2024, $3.99 in the third quarter, $4.15 per gallon in the fourth quarter and $4.18 per gallon in the first quarter of 2025, according to a report released earlier this year.    

WASHINGTON — Scams perpetrated by interstate household goods (HHG) movers and brokers are the focus of a nationwide crackdown by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the agency announced May 20. Operation Protect Your Move is an enforcement initiative created to address complaints about HHG moving companies and brokers that do not comply with federal safety and consumer protection regulations and statutes. “Americans deserve a fair deal when they move into a new home — and we’re cracking down on moving companies that hold people’s possessions hostage,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “This initiative will build on last year’s progress holding scammers accountable.” The FMCSA conducted a similar moving company-focused operation in the spring of 2023, followed by three HHG broker-focused operations in Nevada, New York/New Jersey and Florida later in the year. The 2023 operations uncovered more than 1,000 violations of FMCSA regulations. In response, the FMCSA took enforcement actions where appropriate, issuing letters of probable violation or by revoking companies’ operating authority. In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil penalty enforcement case based on the result of the 2023 operation. That case is pending in federal court in California. This year’s operation will target movers and brokers across the country with the highest numbers of consumer complaints. According to an FMCSA statement, the agency will continue to refer criminal violations to DOJ for prosecution where appropriate. “We take our consumer protection role seriously and aim to help educate and protect those who may be moving their household goods from one state to another,” said FMCSA Acting Deputy Administrator Sue Lawless. “We are committed to this work, and we are putting forth even more resources to make a greater impact, including increasing the number of HHG investigators on staff and establishing additional partnerships with state attorneys general offices.” Educating the public Ahead of the busy summer moving season, FMCSA is also launching the Protect Your Move education campaign to raise consumer awareness of HHG moving scams. Consumers are encouraged to research and plan before moving across state lines by using the FMCSA’s free online resources: A moving checklistfor before and during the move; The Consumer Rights and Responsibilitiespamphlet; The Spot the Red Flags guide to help spot deceptive practices; and Tips for a successful move. Anyone who has experienced moving fraud can file a complaint against a moving company or broker through the FMCSA’s National Consumer Complaint Database.

WASHINGTON — Whether you’re a veteran driver or a road rookie, law enforcement blitzes, such as the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Operation Safe Driver Week, can be nerve-racking. In an effort to ease some of those jitters, the CVSA is hosting a webinar at 12 p.m. Central Daylight Time on Wednesday, May 15, to help prepare drivers for the July 7-13 event. To access and register for the webinar, click here. The focus of this year’s Safe Driver Week is reckless, careless and dangerous driving. Throughout Operation Safe Driver Week, law enforcement personnel in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will be on the lookout for commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers engaging in unsafe driving behaviors, such as speeding, distracted driving, following too closely, drunk or drugged driving, etc. Drivers engaging in such behaviors will be pulled over by law enforcement and may be issued a warning or citation. “Any person who drives a vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is driving recklessly,” a CVSA news release states. “Careless/dangerous driving is defined as operating a vehicle without due care and attention or reasonable consideration for other motorists or people on the road.” According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, effective, high-visibility communications and outreach are essential parts of successful transportation safety programs. “However, communications and outreach programs are unlikely to have an effect unless they are tied to vigorous enforcement,” according to the news release. “Operation Safe Driver Week aims to improve the safety of our roadways through proactive driver safety outreach and education, and by addressing unsafe driving behaviors through responsive traffic enforcement when drivers are identified engaging in dangerous driving behaviors on our roadways.” Operation Safe Driver Week is part of CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver Program.

Updated at 5:15 p.m. central time Thursday, May 9, 2024 COLUMBIA, Tenn. — Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the South on Thursday, May 9, even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street. A heavy line of storms swept into Atlanta near the end of the morning rush hour. Busy hub airports in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, reported delays. The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center cited an “enhanced risk” for severe weather from Texas to South Carolina. An emergency manager reported “significant wind damage” from a possible tornado Thursday afternoon in the Vidalia, Georgia, area, a region known for producing onions. The storms continue a streak of torrential rains and tornadoes this week from the Plains to the Midwest and now, the Southeast. Since Monday, 39 states have been under threat of severe weather and at least four people have died. On Wednesday, 98 million people were under some sort of severe weather risk, said Evan Bentley, a Storm Prediction Center forecaster. The weather comes on the heels of a stormy April in which the U.S. had 300 confirmed tornadoes, the second-most on record for the month and the most since 2011. More than 100,000 homes and businesses still lacked power Thursday afternoon in several Southern states after storms the night before, according to PowerOutage.us. One in Tennessee damaged homes, injured people, toppled power lines and trees, and killed a 22-year-old man in a car in Claiborne County, north of Knoxville, officials said. A second person was killed south of Nashville in Columbia, the seat of Maury County, where officials said a tornado with 140 mph (225 kph) winds damaged or destroyed more than 100 homes. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said the woman who died in Maury County was in a mobile home that was thrown several feet into a wooded area. Lee visited emergency managers and Tennessee Department of Transportation officials in the storm-stricken area Thursday. He thanked workers who spent the night clearing trees and debris from roads. “We come out here when it’s intense like this to say thank you, but often times you do this every day,” Lee said. Bob Booth had just gotten home to Columbia from Georgia and was sitting down to watch television when he heard a “crazy racket.” “I get up and look out, and it was all hell breaking loose outside,” Booth said. “Then the top half of one of my trees goes down across the road.” Retired pastor Walter Shell said he and his wife grabbed their two dogs and headed for the basement when his phone alerted him to a tornado. “It missed where me and my wife were standing by about 4 inches. It went around,” he said. “It pays to pray, I can tell you.” Torrential rains led to a flash flood emergency and water rescues northeast of Nashville, and the weather service issued a tornado emergency its highest alert level, for nearby areas. A 10-year-old boy was seriously injured in Christiana, southeast of Nashville, when he got caught in a storm drain and swept under streets while playing with other children as adults cleared debris, his father, Rutherford County Schools Superintendent Jimmy Sullivan, posted on social media. The boy, Asher, emerged in a drainage ditch and survived after being given CPR, “but the damage is substantial,” Sullivan posted on Facebook, asking for prayers. “Asher needs a miracle,” Sullivan wrote. Dozens of people gathered at the school district’s offices for a prayer vigil Thursday. They bowed their heads and closed their eyes in prayer, and they sang “Amazing Grace” together. Schools were closed Thursday in Rutherford and several other Tennessee counties. In Georgia, some districts north of Atlanta canceled in-person classes or delayed start times because of storm damage overnight that included fallen trees on houses and vehicles around Clarkesville. No injuries were reported there. “We’re just trying to clean up right now and wait for the next round,” said Lynn Smith, director of the Habersham County Emergency Management Agency. A strong tornado damaged at least 20 homes in northern Alabama’s DeKalb County and caused injuries but no deaths, officials said. In North Carolina, a state of emergency was declared Wednesday night for Gaston County, west of Charlotte, after a storm that toppled power lines and trees, including one that landed on a car. One person in the car was killed, and another was taken to a hospital, officials said. The storms followed heavy rain, strong winds, hail and tornadoes in parts of the central U.S. on Monday, including a twister that ripped through an Oklahoma town and killed one person. On Tuesday, the Midwest took the brunt of the bad weather. Tornadoes touched down in parts of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, according to the weather service. Michigan’s Kalamazoo area was hard hit as a FedEx facility was ripped apart, with downed power lines trapping about 50 people. Tornadoes were also confirmed near Pittsburgh, in central Arkansas and in northern West Virginia. The West Virginia twister was at least the 11th tornado this year in the state, which sees two tornadoes in an average year. Both the Plains and Midwest have been hammered by tornadoes this spring.             New storms pummel the South as a week of deadly weather marches on THE ASSOCIATED PRESS COLUMBIA, Tenn. — A wave of dangerous storms began crashing over parts of the South on Thursday, May 9, a day after severe weather with damaging tornadoes killed at least three people in the region. A heavy line of storms swept into Atlanta near the end of the morning rush hour. Busy hub airports in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, reported delays. The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center cited an “enhanced risk” for severe weather from Texas to South Carolina. The storms continue a streak of torrential rains and tornadoes this week from the Plains to the Midwest and now, the Southeast. At least four people have died since Monday. The weather comes on the heels of a stormy April in which the U.S. had 300 confirmed tornadoes, the second-most on record for the month and the most since 2011. Nearly a quarter-million homes and businesses still lacked power Thursday in several Southern states after storms the night before, according to PowerOutage.us. One in Tennessee damaged homes, injured people, toppled power lines and trees, and killed a 22-year-old man in a car in Claiborne County, north of Knoxville, officials said. A second person was killed south of Nashville in Columbia, where officials said a likely tornado blew homes off their foundations. Bob Booth had just gotten home to Columbia from Georgia and was sitting down to watch television when he heard a “crazy racket.” “I get up and look out, and it was all hell breaking loose outside,” Booth said. “Then the top half of one of my trees goes down across the road.” Booth said he was told it would be a while before his power was restored. One neighbor, he said, lost all trees except one that would have destroyed his house: “So that guy is blessed.” Retired pastor Walter Shell said he and his wife grabbed their two dogs and headed for the basement when his phone alerted him to a tornado. “It missed where me and my wife were standing by about 4 inches. It went around,” he said. “It pays to pray, I can tell you.” Torrential rains led to a flash flood emergency and water rescues northeast of Nashville. A temporary ground stop was issued at Nashville’s main airport, and the weather service issued a tornado emergency, its highest alert level, for nearby areas. Schools were closed Thursday in several Tennessee counties. In Georgia, some districts north of Atlanta canceled in-person classes or delayed start times because of storm damage overnight that included fallen trees on houses and vehicles around Clarkesville. No injuries were reported there. “We’re just trying to clean up right now and wait for the next round,” said Lynn Smith, director of the Habersham County Emergency Management Agency. A strong tornado damaged at least 20 homes in northern Alabama’s DeKalb County and caused injuries but no deaths, officials said. In North Carolina, a state of emergency was declared Wednesday night for Gaston County, west of Charlotte, after a storm that toppled power lines and trees, including one that landed on a car. One person in the car was killed, and another was taken to a hospital, officials said. The storms followed heavy rain, strong winds, hail and tornadoes in parts of the central U.S. on Monday, including a twister that ripped through an Oklahoma town and killed one person. On Tuesday, the Midwest took the brunt of the bad weather. Tornadoes touched down in parts of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, according to the weather service. Michigan’s Kalamazoo area was hard hit as a FedEx facility was ripped apart, with downed power lines trapping about 50 people. Tornadoes were also confirmed near Pittsburgh, in central Arkansas and in northern West Virginia. The West Virginia twister was at least the 11th tornado this year in the state, which sees two tornadoes in an average year. Both the Plains and Midwest have been hammered by tornadoes this spring.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The average price for a gallon of diesel fuel in the U.S. for the fourth straight week, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). As of May 6, the price sat at $3.894 per gallon, down from $3.947 on April 29 and $3.992 on April 22. Prices are down across the U.S., even in California, which always has the highest costs due to strict regulations. In the Golden State, drivers can still expect to pay well above $5 a gallon on average at $5.155. That’s down from $5.216 per gallon on April 29 and $5.244 on April 22, according to the EIA. Along the East Coast, the average price for diesel has dipped below the $4 mark for the first time in several weeks. Drivers there are paying $3.966 per gallon on average, down from $4.025 on April 29 and $4.047 on April 22. In the Midwest, the average price sits at $3.814 currently, while along the Gulf Coast, drivers are paying the lowest average price in the nation at $3.617 per gallon. In the Rocky Mountain region, the price is at $3.785 as of May 6. That’s down from $3.787 on April 29 and $3.883 on April 22. The EIA sees diesel fuel averaging $3.92 per gallon in the second quarter of 2024, $3.99 in the third quarter, $4.15 per gallon in the fourth quarter and $4.18 per gallon in the first quarter of 2025, according to a report released earlier this year.  

NORWALK, Conn. — Interstate 95 in Connecticut reopened Sunday after a flaming crash involving a gasoline tanker scorched a bridge and left the roadway closed for days, officials said. Authorities shut the highway down in both directions after a three-vehicle crash Thursday involving a gasoline tanker, which burst into flames and damaged an overpass above I-95 in Norwalk. No one was seriously injured. Workers began demolishing the bridge on Friday and worked to repave damaged parts of the roadway in time for rush hour on Monday. “It is truly remarkable to complete this work in less than 80 hours,” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said Sunday on the social platform X. The interstate serves as a major link between New England and New York. The closure left drivers jampacked bumper to bumper on some of the detour routes. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration has announced the immediate availability of $3 million in “quick release” emergency relief funds for the Connecticut Department of Transportation. “I-95 is a critical highway — for both the people of Connecticut and our nation’s transportation network — and the Biden-Harris Administration focused immediately on helping Governor Lamont quickly restore travel,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.“These emergency funds helped Connecticut DOT safely repair and reopen the road in less than 80 hours and can now help with costs associated with rebuilding the bridge.”