Emergency responders searched the wreckage of communities in northeast Texas and southwest Arkansas early Monday, after a rash of tornadoes slammed the area, killing at least two people and leaving dozens injured.

Howard County Sheriff Brian McJunkins said two victims who lived in adjoining mobile homes in Nashville, Arkansas, died after several tornadoes were reported in the area late Sunday. McJunkins told KLSA-TV that two other people in the town about 50 miles north of Texarkana were critically injured.

In neighboring Texas, a likely tornado pummeled the small city of Van in Van Zandt County around 8:45 p.m. Chuck Allen, the Van Zandt County fire marshal and emergency management coordinator, said about 30 percent of the city was damaged in the storm.

Allen said in an email early Monday that a triage area was established at a church and about 26 residents were taken to hospitals. The extent of their injuries was not immediately clear.

“Damages range from completely destroyed homes, damaged homes, to trees and power lines down,” Allen wrote.

Allen said authorities were going door to door in the city about 70 miles southeast of Dallas, hunting for injured people. Van has about 2,500 residents.

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Utility companies are working to restore “vital infrastructures,” and road and bridge crews are working to open streets and highways to allow for first responder access, he said.

South Dakota was the center of weather extremes Sunday in the Great Plains and Midwest, with a tornado injuring nine people on the eastern side of the state and more than a foot of snow blanketing the Black Hills to the west.

At the same time, a tropical storm came ashore in the Carolinas, and wintry weather affected parts of Colorado.

Tropical Storm Ana made landfall near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Sunday morning and was downgraded to a tropical depression by Sunday afternoon. The storm’s maximum sustained winds were at 35 mph.

In South Dakota, Gov. Dennis Daugaard said nine people were injured Sunday when a tornado tore through the tiny town of Delmont – about 90 miles from Sioux Falls. None of the injuries was life-threatening and seven of the nine had been treated and released from the hospital, Daugaard said. There were no fatalities.

South Dakota Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Kristi Turman said about 20 buildings were damaged and the town has no water, power or phones. The town was evacuated, authorities said.

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“Our house is flat. There is nothing left,” said Stephanie Lunder, 34, of Delmont. She was with her husband and four children in the basement when the storm hit. The tornado heavily damaged a church where children attending Sunday school retreated to the basement, residents said.

In North Texas, a likely tornado ripped roofs off buildings and damaged trees near Denton, about 40 miles northwest of Dallas, according to weather service meteorologist Tom Bradshaw. There were no immediate reports of injuries or fatalities.

Torrential rains led to widespread flash flooding in North Texas. People in Krum were being rescued by helicopter from rising floodwaters.

Denton County Emergency Services Chief Jody Gonzalez said Sunday that multiple rescues had been performed for people in flooded streets and homes in the small town located about 50 miles northwest of Dallas.

About 100 miles west of Fort Worth, people in the sparsely populated ranching and farming community of Cisco were left to clean up from Saturday’s tornado that left one person dead and another in critical condition. Cisco Fire Department spokesman Phillip Truitt said the two people were near each other.

The weather service said that tornado was rated an EF-3, with winds ranging from 136 to 165 mph. At least six buildings were damaged south of Cisco, as well as six others near Lake Leon, Truitt said.

A strong line of storms moved through the Dallas-Fort Worth area Sunday morning, forcing significant delays and a total of 100 flight cancellations at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field Airport.


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