Tornadoes kill 2 in Oklahoma as governor issues state of emergency for 12 counties amid storm damage
HOLDENVILLE, Okla.– At least two people, including a child, were killed when tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma, authorities said Sunday as emergency responders assessed extensive damage to homes and businesses from high winds, hail and flooding.
Dozens of reported tornadoes have wreaked havoc across the center of the country since Friday, with flood warnings and warnings in effect Sunday for Oklahoma and other states including Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas.
In Oklahoma, a tornado ripped through Holdenville, a city of about 5,000, late Saturday, killing two people and injuring four others, Hughes County Emergency Medical Services said in a statement Sunday. Holdenville is approximately 80 miles (128.75 kilometers) from Oklahoma City.
“My prayers are with those who lost loved ones when tornadoes tore through Oklahoma last night,” Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement.
He issued an executive order Sunday declaring a state of emergency in 12 provinces due to the effects of the severe weather as crews worked to clear debris and assess damage from the severe storms that downed power lines. Later in the day, he planned to tour the southern Oklahoma town of Sulfur, where some buildings had been reduced to rubble.
Nearly 33,000 customers were without power in Oklahoma as of Sunday morning, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks outages. In Texas, nearly 67,000 customers were without power.
In Sulphur, authorities reported unspecified injuries and significant destruction. Photos from local news media showed several buildings razed and roofs torn off houses. The Murray County Sheriff’s Office urged people to stay away from the city to clear the way for first responders after extensive tornado damage, according to a statement the agency posted on Facebook.
“Stay home and do not come and watch,” the sheriff’s office said.
A hospital was damaged in Marietta, according to the Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management, which also said Interstate 35 at the Texas border was closed “due to downed vehicles and power lines across the highway.”
Residents in other states were also digging because of storm damage. A tornado in suburban Omaha, Nebraska, destroyed homes and businesses Saturday as it moved for miles through farmland and subdivisions, then slammed an Iowa town.
Fewer than 20 people were being treated at Omaha-area hospitals, said Dr. Lindsay Huse, health director of the city’s Douglas County Health Department.
“Miraculous,” she said, emphasizing that none of the injuries in the city were serious. Neighboring communities each reported a handful of injuries.
The tornado damage began Friday afternoon near Lincoln, Nebraska. An industrial building in Lancaster County was hit, causing it to collapse with 70 people inside. Several people were trapped, but everyone was evacuated and the three injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.
One or possibly two tornadoes then crawled toward Omaha for about an hour, leaving damage consistent with an EF3 twister, with winds of 130 to 165 mph, said Chris Franks, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service office in Omaha.
Ultimately, the destroyer struck the Elkhorn neighborhood in west Omaha, a city of 485,000 residents and about 1 million residents in the metropolitan area.
Staci Roe surveyed the damage to what was supposed to be her “forever home,” which was less than two years old. When the tornado hit, they were at the airport picking up a friend who was spending the night.
“There was no house to go to,” she said, describing “utter fear” when she saw it for the first time.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds toured the damage Saturday and arranged aid for damaged communities. Formal damage assessments are still underway, but states plan to seek federal assistance.