At least two people were killed and numerous others injured as multiple tornadoes tore across Oklahoma overnight into early Sunday, authorities said.
One of the twisters struck Holdenville, about 70 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, and killed one adult and one child, county authorities said. The child was an infant, according to local Fox affiliate KOKH.
Four people were also injured in the Holdenville storm, Hughes County Emergency Medical Services said in a Facebook post. About 5,000 people live in Holdenville, where the twister destroyed more than a dozen homes.
Another tornado struck Sulphur, about 70 miles directly south of Oklahoma City on Interstate 35. Authorities did not immediately confirm if anyone was killed or injured in the city, which is also home to about 5,000 people.
AP Photo
This image taken from video provided by KOCO shows damage caused by a tornado in Sulphur, Okla., Sunday.
Damage in the city was extensive, with downtown buildings flattened and debris strewn across streets and parks. The county sheriff asked people to stay away from Sulphur to allow cleanup crews to do their work.
“Stay home and do not come to look,” the Murray County Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook.
The National Weather Service was still assessing exactly how many tornadoes touched down Saturday night into Sunday morning across Oklahoma. Early reports put the number around 17. Damage was also reported in Marietta, where a hospital was impacted and parts of I-35 were closed due to overturned cars and power lines.
“My prayers are with those who lost loved ones,” Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement. “Thank you to Oklahoma Emergency Management and those who have worked through the night to keep Oklahomans safe and have worked to clear debris and assess damage.”
Stitt declared a state of emergency in 12 counties in southern Oklahoma.
The tornado-producing thunderstorms continued trundling across the Great Plains on Sunday with flood watches and warnings in effect for parts of Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri and Texas. The National Weather Service warned the system could spawn more twisters.
Nationally, the tornado damage began Friday in Nebraska, when a storm struck an industrial building near Lincoln with 70 people inside. Only three people were hospitalized and everyone was accounted for.
The storms continued Saturday in and around Omaha, but fewer than two dozen people were treated at hospitals in the city, according to authorities.
“This is a miracle from God, as far as I can tell, not a single fatality,” Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen told Omaha ABC affiliate KETV. “If you see some of these homes, they’re devastated.”
With News Wire Services