Dawn broke Sunday to scenes of devastation in several Oklahoma counties, with reports of severe structural damage, closed highways, power outages, injuries and at least one dead. So far, 35 tornadoes have been reported overnight.
Twenty-seven million people remain at risk of severe weather through Sunday, including gusty winds, hail, the risk of flooding and potentially more tornadoes.
Saturday’s severe weather came less than 36 hours after more than 100 tornadoes destroyed homes and buildings Friday in six states, with Nebraska and Iowa hardest hit, officials said.
The weather service office in Norman, Oklahoma, confirmed Saturday evening that several tornadoes were in its area, including one near Davenport and several in the area of Sulfur, a small town of about 5,000 located in 80 miles south of Oklahoma City, which appears to have been hit the hardest.
Images posted on social media in the early hours of Sunday showed heavy damage across Sulphur, including toppled trees and scattered bricks and wooden beams. Downtown buildings suffered extensive structural damage, including blown out windows and missing walls. Others appeared to have been razed and reduced to ruins.
Initial reports from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol indicated that some residents were injured, according to the Department of Emergency Management, although it was not yet clear how many or the extent of their injuries.
The Oklahoma Red Cross said early Sunday that was the case. open a shelter in Sulfur, and is in contact with officials in more than a dozen counties to address the immediate needs of affected residents.
In neighboring Hughes County, authorities reported four people injured and one dead, as well as several structures damaged or destroyed, after a tornado ripped through its western portion Saturday evening.
The communities of Garfield, Grant, Kay, Payne and several other Oklahoma counties also suffered damage to homes and other structures, officials said.
The National Weather Service in Norman heridentifier As of 1:25 a.m. Sunday local time, some tornado warnings had passed, but flash flooding remained a threat.
Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company said Sunday morning that about 28,000 customers were without service due to the storms, mostly in southern Oklahoma.
Oklahoma Department of Transportation warned Early Sunday, Interstate-35 was closed in both directions in Love Country due to cleaning up storm damage.
More than 30 million people in Oklahoma City; Dallas; Wichita, Kansas; Omaha; Milwaukee; and Madison, Wisconsin, were in the path of severe weather on Saturday.
This round of severe weather occurred even as parts of Nebraska and Iowa were still reeling from the damage caused by two tornadoes that struck the region.
Omaha, Nebraska, Mayor Jean Stothert said Saturday that no deaths had been reported and there had been relatively few minor injuries.
Despite heavy damage to some residents’ homes, including those belonging to three Omaha firefighters and two police commanders, authorities said Saturday they were grateful the situation was not worse.
Speaking at an afternoon news conference, Stothert said she plans to sign an emergency declaration, which would allow residents to qualify for state and federal rebuilding aid. federal government.
She thanked the National Weather Service and local media for warning the public about tornadoes.
“I want to thank our local forecasters for the clear and accurate warnings they have given,” she said. “I am absolutely convinced that this early warning, thanks to all of you, allowed you to avoid many injuries and probably deaths.”
Lindsay Huse, health director for Douglas County, which is part of Omaha, said by email that fewer than two dozen people suffered minor injuries. They were treated at medical facilities and released, she said.
“It’s just miraculous,” Huse said earlier in the news conference.
The National Weather Service assessed two tornadoes that struck the Omaha area Friday afternoon. One of them started in the Lincoln area and ended in western Douglas County, NWS meteorologist Chris Franks said at the news conference.
It was previously rated a “solid” EF3 on the 0 to 5 scale used by federal forecasters, he said. An EF3 tornado can produce sustained winds of 136 to 165 mph and move homes from their foundations while tearing away exterior walls.
At Omaha Eppley Airfield, a tornado with a preliminary rating of EF2 struck Friday afternoon, Franks said. An EF2 tornado can produce sustained winds of 111 to 135 mph that can partially peel off roofs and shatter windows.
Tornado activity was also reported in neighboring Iowa. Franks said about 80 tornadoes were reported Friday in Douglas County and adjacent communities in Nebraska and Iowa.
In Lancaster County, Nebraska, a tornado was blamed for a train derailment and tractor-trailer overturn, according to National Weather Service vortex notes from Friday.
Omaha police Lt. Neal Bonacci said hundreds of homes were damaged, mostly in the Elkhorn neighborhood on the city’s west side.
“You definitely see the path of the tornado,” Bonacci said.
Police and firefighters went door to door to help residents and search areas where people might be trapped, said Omaha Fire Chief Kathy Bossman.
“We’ll be searching properties in the debris piles, we’ll be searching basements, trying to find all the victims and making sure everyone who needs help is rescued,” Bossman said.
Pat Woods, who lives in Elkhorn, told the Associated Press that he and his wife took shelter but could hear the tornado “passing through.”
“When we arrived, our fence was gone and we looked to the northwest and the whole neighborhood was gone,” he said.
His wife, Kim Woods, said the neighborhood to the north was “pretty flattened.”
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds declared a state of emergency for Pottawattamie County after video posted to social media showed parts of Minden, about 30 miles northeast of Omaha, completely razed.
Jeff Theulen, chief deputy of the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, said at a news conference Friday evening that 40 or 50 homes were “completely destroyed.” Two injuries were reported, including one “fairly serious but not life-threatening”, he told reporters.
“It’s very dangerous right now. We have closed the entrance to the city except for the people who live here,” he said, noting that “50% of the city is badly damaged and there are has slight damage everywhere else.”
In neighboring Shelby County, about 40 homes were damaged, county emergency coordinator Alex Londo said. Authorities were assessing the destruction, he said, noting that no deaths had been reported.
National Weather Service offices assessed the damage ahead of more severe weather expected Saturday.
The service reported 106 tornadoes in Nebraska, Iowa, Texas, Kansas and Missouri on Friday. Another tornado was reported Friday morning in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma.
Oklahoma was also hit by unstable air and thunderstorms that tracked east Friday, but the service did not list any confirmed tornadoes for the state.
Among Friday’s tornadoes under preliminary assessment by the weather service were two near Waco, Texas – one believed to be EF2 in strength – and the other rated at EF1 (86 to 110 mph).
