Rob Marciano / May 18, 2026 — Violent storms over the weekend spawned destructive tornadoes across the Plains and upper Midwest, with at least 22 tornado reports in five states from Kansas to Minnesota. Homes were leveled, trees and power lines were tossed through the air, and communities were left picking up the pieces.
In Howard County, Nebraska, Christina Parden and her daughter, Graci Boersen, took shelter in their basement — the only part of their newly built home that remains. “I looked out my kitchen window and I was watching the clouds and it just dropped down,” Parden said, describing how the twister formed. Boersen called it “(It) was the most terrifying thing I’ve experienced in my life.”
The family had moved into the house just two weeks earlier after designing and building it. In the hours after the storm, neighbors and volunteers arrived to help salvage what they could from the rubble.
“I know God is going to send help when we’re in trouble,” Parden said. “He’s going to send help in one way or another.”
Meteorologists warned of the potential for more severe storms across the nation’s midsection on Monday. The same weather system driving the tornado outbreak also produced strong winds across the Great Plains and helped spread fast-moving wildfires.
The Sharpe Fire in southeastern Colorado burned more than 16,000 acres and prompted evacuations over the weekend. In northern Minnesota, several wildfires remained active and the governor declared a state of emergency as crews worked to contain blazes and protect communities.
Officials across the affected states continued damage assessments and urged residents to monitor weather alerts, heed evacuation orders, and exercise caution as recovery and cleanup efforts begin.