Tornadoes and flooding spawned by sudden and severe thunderstorms tore through parts of Oklahoma on Saturday night, leaving at least six people injured and shredding homes and other properties.
As CNN Weather reports, residents in Oklahoma and Texas were bracing for more severe weather from these unexpected late season storms, including possible tornadoes, flash floods, hail and strong winds. The National Weather Service issued warnings for parts of both states on Sunday afternoon. The severe weather was expected to move from west to east Sunday, the weather service said.
Six people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after the storms hit, said Valerie Littlejohn, public information officer with the Oklahoma City Police Department. Several structures were damaged in the area, along with power lines, trees, gas lines, traffic signals, and traffic signs, she said. National Weather Service teams surveyed the damage Sunday, including in the town of Valley Brook, Harrah and Newcastle where the storms caused severe destruction.
Video of the damage from CNN affiliate KOCO shows cars overturned and whole houses shredded. The storms toppled telephone poles and snapped trees in half. Debris was scattered around impacted areas, including large pieces of wood and metal from buildings that were ripped apart. About 41,000 customers in Oklahoma and Texas were still without power Sunday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us.
Tornadoes were reported just east of Oklahoma City, and tornado and thunderstorm warnings were in place through early morning in the Oklahoma City area, the weather service said. “Folks, don’t let your guard down too much – we’re already starting to see the atmosphere begin to recover ahead of yet another round of thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, flooding, and potential severe weather today,” the weather service said in a post on X.
First responders rescued two people trapped inside an overturned mobile home after the storms hit, according to the Oklahoma City Fire Department. They also responded to several vehicles that were flooded due to heavy rainfall, according to the department’s public information officer Scott Douglas. The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said it was continuing to monitor the severe weather. Police were asking people to avoid some roads in the area due to the damage.
Nighttime tornadoes are more than twice as deadly as daytime ones, research shows. Nocturnal tornadoes are difficult to spot in the darkness and those sleeping may not be aware that danger is near.
There’s heightened concern over the tornado threat this week given how prolific a year it has been for twisters in the US. The number of tornadoes reported so far this year is the second-most on record, trailing only 2011’s 2,156.
Violent thunderstorms are most common in spring and summer, but a second surge of dangerous storms and tornadoes happens during fall and winter as cold air from the north often collides with warmer, moist air streaming out of the Gulf of Mexico.
—
Photo Credit: Cammie Czuchnicki / Shutterstock.com