A small Oklahoma town will begin an extended cleanup operation starting Monday after a tornado destroyed homes and buildings, killed four people, including an infant, and expanded a devastating severe weather outbreak across the central United States. It started.
Severe storms that began late Saturday in Oklahoma injured at least 100 people, damaged rural hospitals, washed out roads and left more than 40,000 customers without power at one point, state officials said.
Tornadoes also touched down in Iowa and Nebraska on Friday, causing widespread damage and one death.
Destruction was widespread in Sulphur, a town of about 5,000 people south of Oklahoma City, where the tornado crushed many buildings downtown, tossed cars and buses, and tore off the roofs of homes in a 15-block radius.
“The destruction is unbelievable,” Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt said during a visit to a hard-hit town. “It seems like every business downtown has been destroyed.”
Stitt said about 30 people were injured in Sulfur, including those who were at the bar when the tornado struck.
The Oklahoma State Emergency Management Agency said about 100 people were reported injured in hospitals across the state, including people who appeared to have suffered cuts or been hit by debris.
Hughes County Emergency Management Director Mike Dockley told Oklahoma TV station KOCO that an infant was among the dead.
President Joe Biden met with Stitt on Sunday and offered the federal government’s full support, White House officials said.
Terrifying weather in Oklahoma has resulted in dozens of tornadoes being reported that have wreaked havoc across the central United States since Friday.
Another death was reported in Iowa on Sunday, with Pottawattamie County officials saying a man critically injured in Friday’s tornado has died.
Oklahoma officials said the sulfur tornado started in a city park and then raced through downtown, flipping over cars and tearing off roofs and walls from brick buildings.
The windows and doors of the building were blown out.
“How are we going to rebuild? This is complete devastation,” said Kelly Trussell, a lifelong sulfur resident, as she surveyed the damage. “That’s crazy. I want to help, but where do I start?”
Carolyn Goodman came to Sulfur from the nearby town of Ada in search of her ex-sister-in-law, who she said was at a local bar just before the tornado hit the area.
Stitt said one of the victims was found inside the bar, but authorities have not yet identified the deceased.
“The bar was destroyed,” Goodman said. “She knows she probably won’t find her alive…but she hopes she’s still alive.”
Further north, a tornado struck near the town of Holdenville, killing two people and damaging or destroying more than a dozen homes, Hughes County Emergency Medical Services said.
Another person was killed along Interstate 35 near the city of Marietta in southern Oklahoma, state officials said.
Tornadoes and heavy rains that rolled into Oklahoma also caused dangerous flooding and water rescues.
Outside Sulfur, the Chickasaw National Recreation Area was closed due to rising lake levels and a pedestrian bridge was washed away by the storm.
Stitt issued an executive order Sunday declaring a state of emergency in 12 counties affected by the severe weather.
In the Sulfur High School gym where her family was taking shelter from the storm, Jacalynn Wright said she and her family heard what sounded like a helicopter as the tornado touched down.
Chad Smith, 43, said people rushed to the gym when the wind picked up.
The rain started to pick up and the door slammed shut. “Give me a beer and a lawn chair and I’ll sit outside and watch,” Smith said. Instead, he went into hiding.
Residents in other states were also evacuated from storm damage.
A tornado that struck outside Omaha, Nebraska, on Saturday destroyed homes and businesses as it traveled several miles through farmland and into a subdivision before hitting a town in Iowa.
Tornado damage began Friday afternoon near Lincoln, Nebraska.
An industrial building in Lancaster County was hit and collapsed with 70 people inside.
Several people were trapped, but all were evacuated and three people were injured with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.
Chris Franks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Omaha office, said one or perhaps two tornadoes then traveled toward Omaha over the course of about an hour, causing damage comparable to an EF3 twister with winds of 135 to 165 mph. It is said that he left it behind.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds toured the damage Saturday and arranged aid for affected communities.
Formal damage assessments are still underway, but states plan to ask the federal government for assistance.
