--- title: Deadly Tornadoes Rip Through Midwestern and Southern U.S. description: At least 28 people died during severe storms in Missouri, Kentucky, and Virginia. canonical: https://time.com/7286841/tornadoes-midwest-south-kentucky/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-05-19T21:19:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:35:40.914Z article:section: Climate og:title: Deadly Tornadoes Rip Through Midwestern and Southern U.S. og:description: At least 28 people died during severe storms in Missouri, Kentucky, and Virginia. og:url: https://time.com/7286841/tornadoes-midwest-south-kentucky/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt397126b74f3dcb3e/6998c6c1d32e93a288cd7045/Tornadoes-Midwest-South.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Tornadoes Leave At Least 18 Dead In Kentucky og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Deadly Tornadoes Rip Through Midwestern and Southern U.S. twitter:description: At least 28 people died during severe storms in Missouri, Kentucky, and Virginia. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt397126b74f3dcb3e/6998c6c1d32e93a288cd7045/Tornadoes-Midwest-South.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Deadly Tornadoes Rip Through Midwestern and Southern U.S. > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter May 19, 2025 9:19 PM UTC  James Sexton is comforted by a family friend while cleaning up the debris of his house in the community of Sunshine Hills outside of London, Kentucky, on May 18, 2025. James Sexton is comforted by a family friend while cleaning up the debris of his house in the community of Sunshine Hills outside of London, Kentucky, on May 18, 2025. Michael Swensen—Getty Images by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter May 19, 2025 9:19 PM UTC Tornadoes, heavy rain, and thunderstorms tore through parts of the Midwestern and Southern United States over the weekend, leaving dozens dead. The weather system, which began on Friday, produced [more than two dozen tornadoes](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/17/tornadoes-kentucky-missouri-16-dead) that ripped through parts of Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. At least 28 people died during the severe storms in Missouri, Kentucky, and Virginia, according to [The Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/storms-tornadoes-damage-destruction-3f7207e36dc589e9635755a1f579e926). Kentucky was hardest hit, as a catastrophic tornado in the state damaged buildings and displaced many residents. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear [posted](https://x.com/GovAndyBeshear/status/1924161796463579369) on X on Sunday that 19 people died in his state alone. Seven people were killed amid the severe weather in Missouri, and two in Virginia, the AP [reported](https://apnews.com/article/storms-tornadoes-damage-destruction-3f7207e36dc589e9635755a1f579e926). The National Weather Service (NWS) said that the severe weather in [Kentucky](https://www.weather.gov/media/lmk/DssPacket.pdf) could continue on Monday and Tuesday, with the possibility of damaging winds, hail, tornadoes, heavy rainfall, and flooding. Parts of [Missouri](https://www.weather.gov/media/eax/DssPacket.pdf) and [Kansas](https://www.weather.gov/media/ict/DssPacket.pdf) could also experience thunderstorms and hail into Monday, according to NWS. “Kentucky, we have been through a very difficult round of severe weather that’s taken a lot of lives, and unfortunately we’re going to see some more severe weather in the days to come,” Beshear [said](https://x.com/GovAndyBeshear/status/1924555954340720929) in a video posted on X on Monday. “We have already lost 19 Kentuckians to severe weather in just the last couple of days. So be safe.” The area of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas is known as [“Tornado Alley”](https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/storms/tornadoes/where-tornadoes-happen#:~:text=Most%20tornadoes%20are%20found%20in,the%20peak%20months%20for%20tornadoes.) because the conditions in the region—where cold, dry air from Canada converges with warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico—are often ideal for the formation of tornadoes. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7286841/tornadoes-midwest-south-kentucky/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7286841/tornadoes-midwest-south-kentucky/"},"headline":"Deadly Tornadoes Rip Through Midwestern and Southern U.S.","datePublished":"2025-05-19T21:19:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T00:35:40.914Z","description":"At least 28 people died during severe storms in Missouri, Kentucky, and Virginia.","url":"https://time.com/7286841/tornadoes-midwest-south-kentucky/","keywords":["extreme weather","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt397126b74f3dcb3e/6998c6c1d32e93a288cd7045/Tornadoes-Midwest-South.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chantelle Lee","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/"}],"articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt397126b74f3dcb3e/6998c6c1d32e93a288cd7045/Tornadoes-Midwest-South.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Tornadoes Leave At Least 18 Dead In Kentucky","caption":"Tornadoes Leave At Least 18 Dead In Kentucky","creditText":"Michael Swensen—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/climate/","name":"Climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/extreme-weather/","name":"extreme weather"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7286841/tornadoes-midwest-south-kentucky/","name":"Deadly Tornadoes Rip Through Midwestern and Southern U.S."}}]}] ```