Millions of people across Oklahoma, southern Kansas at risk of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms

A mailbox is partially submerged on a flooded street in an unincorporated area in east Harris County near Houston on Sunday morning, May 5, 2024. The nearby San Jacinto River, overflowing due to heavy rainfall earlier this week, caused the flood waters. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)

Millions of people in the central United States could see powerful storms Monday including long-track tornadoes, hurricane-force winds and baseball-sized hail, forecasters said.

Much of Oklahoma and parts of Kansas are at the greatest risk of bad weather — including areas in Oklahoma, such as Sulphur and Holdenville, still recovering from a tornado that killed 4 and left thousands without power last week.

In all, nearly 10 million people live in areas under threat of severe weather, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said. Forecasters there issued a rare high risk for central Oklahoma and southern Kansas. The last time a high risk was issued was March 31, 2023, when a massive storm system tore through parts of the South and Midwest including Arkansas, Illinois and rural Indiana.

Clouds amass over power lines follow days of storms on Sunday, May 5, 2024, in Humble, Texas. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Bill Bunting, the center’s deputy director, said a high risk from the Storm Prediction Center is not something seen every day or every spring. “It’s the highest level of threat we can assign. And it’s a day to take very, very seriously,” he said.

Other cities that could see stormy weather include Kansas City, Missouri and Lincoln, Nebraska.

Bunting said the number of storms and their intensity should increase quickly in the evening hours across western parts of Oklahoma and up into south central Kansas.

Bunting advises people in the affected areas to develop a severe weather plan early in the day.

“Make sure that you have ways to communicate with your family members,” he said. “Make sure everyone knows where their shelters are,,” and how they can continue to receive warnings.

The entire week is looking stormy across the U.S. Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis and Cincinnati could see severe thunderstorms later in the week, where more than 21 million people live.

Meanwhile, early Monday heavy rains hit southwestern Texas, especially the Houston area, leaving neighborhoods flooded and leading to hundreds of high-water rescues.

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Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate solutions reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at [email protected].