--- description: At least 28 people died during severe storms in Missouri, Kentucky, and Virginia. title: Deadly Tornadoes Rip Through Midwestern and Southern U.S. image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt397126b74f3dcb3e/6998c6c1d32e93a288cd7045/Tornadoes-Midwest-South.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Climate](/section/climate/) ## Climate Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [extreme weather](/tag/extreme-weather/) ## extreme weather Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Deadly Tornadoes Rip Through Midwestern and Southern U.S. by [Chantelle Lee](/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter May 19, 2025 9:19 PM CUT  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](/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter May 19, 2025 9:19 PM CUT 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 "undefined") 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 "undefined"). 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 "undefined") 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 "undefined"). The National Weather Service (NWS) said that the severe weather in [Kentucky](https://www.weather.gov/media/lmk/DssPacket.pdf "undefined") 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 "undefined") and [Kansas](https://www.weather.gov/media/ict/DssPacket.pdf "undefined") 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 "undefined") 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. "undefined") 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."}}]}] ```