Texas & Oklahoma Brace for Flooding, Tornadoes

In Texas and Oklahoma, another round of storms will return to the Southern Plains just as the regions are recovering from days of treacherous weather.

According to CNN, a storm system is expected to bring more thunderstorms to the region Monday. "Large hail, damaging winds, flash flooding, and large tornadoes are possible," said the National Weather Service.

52 tornadoes have been reported across seven states in the past three days, according to CNN. Those states include Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. More than 55 million people could see some type of severe weather, according to CNN. Cities such as Lubbock, Amarillo, and Abielene, Texas, could see weather with baseball-sized hail and hurricane force winds in some places.

The storms brought damage and power outages to many parts of Texas Saturday, May 18. In Anderson County, both road closures and high water were reported at multiple locations. And in Cherokee County, dispatchers reported flooding and water rescues went underway in multiple locations, according to KLTV. Other counties in East Texas affected include Houston County, Nacogdoches County, Rusk County, and Wood County.

The weather service has urged residents across the Southern Plains to have a “safe plan in place” for Tuesday, May 21.

"Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways," the weather service said. "Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm. Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe shelter inside a building or a vehicle."

According to CNN, the service has said hail and damaging winds are possible in part of Kansas as well. “Up to 3 in. of rain is expected beginning late Monday and into Tuesday, which could lead to flooding,” the service said.

In parts of Louisiana, the storms took down electricity poles and trees, which left more than 20,000 without power, according to CNN.

"We are very fortunate that there has been no loss of life, but we encourage people to be cautious and follow directions from local authorities,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said on Twitter.