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Cleanup under way after massive storm barreled across at least eight US states
Clean up efforts have started in several US states which endured destructive storms that killed more than 40 people over the weekend.
The massive storm system in question swept across at least eight states in the south and midwest over the weekend, with multiple tornadoes, wildfires and dust storms descending on the region, destroying thousands of businesses and homes.
The governors of Arkansas, Georgia and Oklahoma each declared a state of emergency over the weekend in the wake of the storm. Red flag warnings still remain for states in the midwest and south, including Texas and Oklahoma, meaning those states are still at risk of high, dry winds that could lead to wildfires.
There were 96 tornadoes reported in the region on Friday and Saturday, according to the National Weather Center’s Storm Prediction Center.
The death toll from the storm continued to go up on Sunday after two children were killed in Transylvania county, North Carolina, after a tree fell through their family’s trailer.
Missouri has the highest death toll, with 12 dead from tornadoes and wildfires that hit the state. At the storm’s peak, more than 140,000 homes and businesses lost power. As of Monday morning, more than 20,000 customers in the state were still without power.
In a statement on Sunday Mike Kehoe, Missouri’s governor, said: “The scale of devastation across our state is staggering.”
Hurricane-force winds in Texas and Oklahoma led to wildfires that spread in multiple communities across the two states. In Oklahoma, at least 130 wildfires had been reported in the state by Friday, with the dry, powerful gusts setting large swaths of land aflame. A ranch outside of Oklahoma City owned by the governor, Kevin Stitt, was burned in one of the wildfires.
In a video taken for social media, Stitt showed the remains of his ranch, saying that he is “rebuilding with all of Oklahoma”.
“You never think it’s going to happen to your place, and these wildfires just come out of nowhere and can really take over,” Stitt said.
In Kansas, at least eight people died after a 70-vehicle pileup on an interstate highway during a dust storm on Friday afternoon that led to near-zero visibility on the roads.
On the Louisiana-Mississippi border, two powerful tornadoes formed concurrently and took the same path, ultimately leaving three dead in Tylertown, Mississippi, a town of fewer than 2,000 people.
William Shultz of Tylertown told NBC News that he was “holding my wife to my chest and just watching everything disappear and watching everything get ripped out away from me”, he said. “I’m just thankful to be alive.”
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Donald Trump said that the national guard had been deployed to Arkansas, where tornados have left three dead. The president also said: “My administration is ready to assist state and local officials as they help their communities to try and recover from the damage.”
Trump’s statement notably lacked any mention of help from the Federal Emergency management Agency (Fema), which helps with disaster reliefs after severe weather events. The president and Elon Musk, the head of the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) and the architect behind the mass government layoffs, have come under criticism for laying off workers in agencies including Fema.
Advocacy groups have pointed out that it appears hundreds of Fema employees have been terminated over the last few weeks. In January, after being sworn into office, Trump floated the idea of scrapping Fema completely, calling it “very bureaucratic” and “very slow”.
Crime scene tape surrounds a bicycle in front of St. Lukes Episcopal Church in Atlanta on May 14, 2026. (SKYFOX 5)
ATLANTA – The woman stabbed to death on the Beltline has been identified as 23-year-old Alyssa Paige, according to the Fulton County Medical Examiner.
The backstory:
Paige was killed by a 21-year-old man Thursday afternoon while she was on the Beltline. Officials confirmed to FOX 5 that the stabbing happened near the 1700 block of Flagler Avenue NE.
Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said the department was alerted around 12:10 p.m. that a woman had been stabbed just north of the Montgomery Ferry Drive overpass. She was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital where she later died. Another person was also stabbed during the incident, but their condition remains unknown.
According to officers, the man responsible attacked a U.S. Postal worker prior to the stabbing before getting away on a bike. He then used that bike to flee the scene of the stabbing as well.
The suspect was arrested near St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on Peachtree Street in Midtown around 5:25 p.m.
What we don’t know:
While officials haven’t released an official motive, they noted the man may have been suffering a mental health crisis.
The Source: Information in this article came from the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office and previous FOX 5 reporting.
Federal prosecutors have filed charges against a former Army serviceman they accused of distributing instructions on how to build explosives that were used by a man who conducted a deadly attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day last year.
The former serviceman, Jordan A. Derrick, a 40-year-old from Missouri, was charged with one count of engaging in the business of manufacturing explosive materials without a license; one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device; and one count of distributing information relating to manufacturing explosives, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday. The three charges together carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.
Starting in September 2023, the authorities said, Mr. Derrick was using various social media sites to share videos of himself making explosive materials, including detonators. His videos provided step-by-step instructions, and he often engaged with viewers in comments, sometimes answering their questions about the chemistry behind the explosives.
The authorities said that Mr. Derrick’s videos were downloaded by Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, who was accused of ramming a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2025, in a terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens. Mr. Jabbar was killed in a shootout with the police. Before the attack, Mr. Jabbar had placed two explosives on Bourbon Street, the authorities said, but they did not detonate.
The authorities later recovered two laptops and a USB drive in a house that Mr. Jabbar had rented. The USB drive contained several videos created by Mr. Derrick that provided instructions on making explosives. The authorities said the explosives they recovered were consistent with the ones Mr. Derrick had posted about.
Mr. Derrick’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Derrick was a combat engineer in the Army, where he provided personnel and vehicle support, the authorities said. He also helped supervise safety personnel during demolitions and various operations. He was honorably discharged in February 2013.
The authorities did not say whether Mr. Derrick had any communication with Mr. Jabbar, or whether the men had known each other. In some of Mr. Derrick’s videos and comments, he indicated that he was aware that his videos could be misused.
“There are a plethora of uh, moral, you know, entanglements with topics, any topic of teaching explosives, right?” he asked in one video, according to the affidavit. “Of course, the wrong people could get it.”
The authorities also said that an explosion occurred at a private residence in Odessa, Mo., on May 4, and the occupant of the residence told investigators that he had manufactured explosives after watching online tutorials from Mr. Derrick.
Mr. Derrick’s YouTube account had more than 15,000 subscribers and 20 published videos, the affidavit said. He had also posted content on other platforms, including Odysee and Patreon. Some videos were accessible to the public for free, while others required a paid subscription to view.
“My responsibility to my countrymen is to make sure that I serve the function of the Second Amendment to strengthen it,” Mr. Derrick said in one of his videos, according to the affidavit. “This is how I serve my country for real.”
Outside of the income he received through content creation, Mr. Derrick did not have any known employment. He did receive a monthly disability check from Veterans Affairs, the affidavit stated.
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