CNN
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More severe weather is expected in the Southern Plains on Monday as Oklahomans survey the devastation from tornado-spawning storms that injured at least 11 people and leveled homes over the weekend.

Severe thunderstorms will continue to rip through the Southern Plains overnight and increase again Monday across northern Texas, western Arkansas, southwestern Missouri and most of Oklahoma. Areas including Oklahoma City could see more twisters.

While the lingering storms will eventually weaken Monday morning, severe weather conditions are expected to intensify in parts of the region during the day and could continue into the evening – threatening many of the same areas that have been ravaged by tornadoes and flooding over the region. weekend.

“Scattered severe thunderstorms associated with tornadoes, large hail and wind damage are likely Monday and Monday evening from the Southern Plains northeast into the Ozarks and mid-Mississippi Valley,” the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) warned. “A few of the tornadoes could be strong.”

A lower severe storm warning will spread from central and eastern Texas into western Illinois — including the cities of Dallas, Houston, Austin and St. Louis — threatening damaging winds, large hail and tornadoes, the SPC said.

Heavy rain showers can also flood the streets. More than 7 million people are under flood watch in northern Texas, most of Oklahoma, southeastern Kansas, northwestern Arkansas and southern Missouri.

At least five tornadoes, combined with intense flooding from heavy rain, tore through parts of Oklahoma Saturday through Sunday, destroying homes and other structures.

Video of the damage from CNN affiliate KOCO shows cars being overturned and entire homes destroyed. The storms toppled telephone poles and snapped trees in half. Debris is scattered across the affected areas, including large pieces of wood and metal from buildings that have been torn apart.

Nearly 40 structures were destroyed in the Oklahoma City area, the Oklahoma City Fire Department said in a Facebook post. Another 43 structures suffered major damage, while 54 sustained minor damage.

At least 11 people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, OCFD said Sunday evening, adding that several others suffered minor injuries but declined to seek medical attention.

Katie Anderson, a resident of southeast Oklahoma City, told CNN affiliate KOKH that she woke up Sunday to the sound of a severe storm warning on her phone — which she initially thought was her church alarm. She then quickly realized that debris was falling into her home. Due to heavy rainfall as a result of the storm, her roof had collapsed in several places.

“Everything is replaceable, but people are not,” says Anderson. “The fact that we walk away with no injuries and absolutely no problems means a lot more to me than whether or not I have a bank of a roof.”

“It was the loudest thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” Thomas Shaver, another Oklahoma City resident, told KOKH, describing a big boom that sounded like a train on Sunday morning.

In the midst of the violent storm, Shaver told KOKH he pulled his daughter and wife into one of the hallways of their home and began to pray. He said the bedrooms in his house are now gone – along with part of the roof.

“There’s a lot of damage to the cars and things like that, but some things survived and we’re still able to get by, so we’re very grateful for that,” he told the outlet.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has issued an emergency declaration for six counties. Officials were trying to ensure that polling places across the state would have power ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election, Stitt said at a news conference Sunday.

“We will inform the public if there are any issues with the polling stations and reroute people if necessary,” the governor said. According to PowerOutage.US, more than 12,000 electricity customers in Oklahoma were still without power as of early Monday.

Stitt warned that potential life-threatening conditions will spread throughout the state. “Utility restoration is underway where conditions permit and the state is working closely with local partners to ensure Oklahomans get what they need,” he said in a post on X.

The five tornadoes the National Weather Service has confirmed so far include two suspected powerful EF-3 twisters, one in Harrah and another near Sooner Road in Cleveland and Oklahoma counties. Tornado strength is measured using the Enhanced Fujita Scale or EF Scale, which rates tornadoes from EF-0 to EF-5 based on estimated wind speeds and related damage.

Most tornadoes occurred during the dark hours of night, with residents waking up to splintered buildings and trails of debris.

Research shows that nighttime tornadoes are more than twice as deadly as daytime tornadoes because nighttime tornadoes are difficult to spot in the dark and those who are sleeping may not be aware that danger is nearby.