Severe Weather Update: Tornado Causes Damage, Injures 12 Near Kansas City, Warnings Issued in New York City Metro Area

Another day of severe weather was on tap for millions of people from the Midwest to the Eastern Seaboard on Tuesday.

As severe thunderstorms stretched from northern Texas to southern Pennslyvania, tornado warnings were issued in the New York City metro area, sending thousands looking for cover though a storm never materialized.

Hail and strong winds were reported in Staten Island, New York, but no injuries or storm damage were reported.

However, damage was reported in Stanhope, New Jersey where Lenape Valley High School is thought to have sustained damage from a potential tornado. According to NJ.com, up to 100 people were attending a track team banquet inside the school at the time the storm hit. Two people reportedly suffered minor injuries but were not taken to the hospital.

A parent who attended the banquet told NJ.com that she was inside the cafeteria when the storm hit.

"The back windows, they kind of like bowed inwards. At that point, we kind of stopped and said 'maybe we shouldn't be in here," Marie Raffay said. After the storm passed, Raffay said her husband, Russ, and her two sons pointed outside toward the baseball field where one of the dugouts had flipped over.

"They were all screaming 'oh my God, look at the dugout.' The dugout from the baseball field had flipped over. There were some tables out there that had umbrellas on them. The umbrellas were gone and the poles were still there, but were all bent," she told NJ.com.

Additional storm damage was reported in Berks County, Pennsylvania where reports of damage came from the city of Morgantown. Reports from local media indicated roof damage and uprooted trees, as well as egg-sized hail.

The National Weather Service has not yet confirmed reports of a tornado in New Jersey or Pennsylvania.

However, storm chasers spotted a large tornado, thought to be up to 1.5 miles wide, near Kansas City on Tuesday evening. At least a dozen people have been reported injured, though none of the wounds appear to be life-threatening, CBS News reports.

The majority of the damage appears to be in the cities of Lawrence and Linwood where dozens of homes were impacted by the tornado.

Linwood Mayor Brian Christenson told CNN that dozens of homes outside the city limits have been destroyed. Most of the damage in Lawrence appeared to be on the south side of the city, officials said.

"We have local crews moving stuff around. City crews are moving with tractors, a lot of civilians are helping cut trees off cars and off houses," Christenson told CNN.

Storm debris also temporarily shut down the Kansas City International Airport airfield after the storm had passed. According to the Associated Press, two flights were diverted from the airport and others suspended as the storm approached, with waiting passengers and employees were evacuated to parking garage tunnels to ride out the storm.

The airport expected to resume operations after midnight, delayed by the amount of debris that must be cleared before planes can use the airfield.

"Crews working feverishly to clean up debris, much from a distant greenhouse/nursery. Estimated airfield/airport reopening just after Midnight. Many apologies. Thousands of pieces over millions of square feet. One piece in an engine can be catastrophic. Safety first," the airport wrote on Twitter.

The graphic below, provided by Statista, illustrates the scale of financial damage caused by tornadoes.

The outbreak of severe weather marks the 12th consecutive day where a tornado has touched down in the U.S. On Monday, the National Weather Service estimated that 55 tornadoes were spotted across eight states.

According to AccuWeather meteorologist Brett Rathbun it will be next week before millions of people might see some relief from the storms.

"The overall weather pattern that has been in place across the U.S. will continue early this week, which will bring more rounds of severe weather to the Plains," Rathburn said.

The storms have also generated concern about flooding as portions of Oklahoma and Arkansas as the Arkansas River marked an all-time high. The river is expected to crest sometime on Wednesday, but not until it has risen at least two additional feet.

"In the Southern Plains, Oklahoma has far and away been the poster child for this event. By the time May 31st rolls around, we fully expect May of 2019 to surpass October 1941 as the second wettest month on record for Oklahoma, behind only May 2015," Victor Murphy of the National Weather Service told Axios.

Murphy said some counties in Oklahoma have seen between 16 to 19 inches of rain in May. The average rainfall amount per county in the state for May is 9.4 inches.

The risk of flooding, however, is just beginning as floodwaters move into the Mississippi River and head towards Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico. On Monday, the Army Corps of Engineers announced it will open Louisiana's Morganza Spillway to help control the water level.

The Corps statement says that the Mississippi River is expected to reach 62 feet by June 5.

"The current flood fight is historic and unprecedented," the Corps statement said. Portions of the river have been in flood stage since January.

This article was updated to include an infographic.