13 dead after severe weather roars through Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas

At least 15 people were killed across the central United States as tornadoes and other extreme storms hit several states including Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma, officials said Sunday.

Rescue efforts were ongoing and hundreds of thousands of customers were without power after the storms struck the Southern Plains region beginning late Saturday. In Texas, Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington told a press conference that seven people were dead after a tornado ripped through the Valley View area, north of Dallas, according to local ABC affiliate WFAA. Search and rescue operations were ongoing.

Texas Governor Gregg Abbott signed a decree for four counties that frees up money and staff to help people whose homes were damaged or destroyed. The twister destroyed homes and a gas station, and overturned vehicles on an interstate highway. Sappington called the damage “pretty extensive,” in an interview with The Weather Channel.