At least 6 injured after tornado-spawning thunderstorm leaves trail of destruction across parts of Oklahoma

CNN
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At least six people were injured as severe thunderstorms moved across parts of Oklahoma early Sunday, with tornadoes and flooding reported overnight, authorities said.

The six injured people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, said Valerie Littlejohn, public information officer for the Oklahoma City Police Department.

Several structures were also damaged in the area, along with power lines, trees, gas lines, traffic signals and traffic signs, she said.

Video of the damage from CNN affiliate KOCO shows cars overturned and entire houses shredded. The storms toppled telephone poles and snapped trees in half. Debris is scattered around affected areas, including large pieces of wood and metal from buildings that were torn apart.

About 95,000 customers in Oklahoma were without power, according to Sunday morning poweroutage.us.

Tornadoes were reported just east of Oklahoma City, and tornado and thunderstorm warnings are in place for the Oklahoma City area, National 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 another round of thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, flooding and potentially severe weather today,” the weather service said in a post on X.

The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said it is monitoring the severe weather.

Flooding on Interstate 35 closed all but one northbound lane near Forest Park in the Oklahoma City area. Oklahoma Department of Transportation said.

The Oklahoma City Fire Department responded to several vehicles that were flooded due to heavy rainfall, according to the department’s public information officer Scott Douglas.

Around 01:20 local time, the weather service warned a severe thunderstorm with a tornado moved through eastern Oklahoma City toward Midwest City and Tinker Air Force Base. A tornado warning was issued for over 300,000 people in Moore, Midwest City and Del City.

The University of Oklahoma told students and staff at its Norman campus to “Take shelter NOW inside the building you are in. Move to lower floor/interior.”

Nighttime tornadoes are more than twice as deadly as daytime ones, research shows. Nocturnal tornadoes are difficult to spot in the dark, and those who are sleeping may not be aware that danger is near.

There is heightened concern about the tornado threat this week given how productive a year it has been for twisters in the United States. 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 the spring and summer, but a second wave of dangerous storms and tornadoes occurs during the fall and winter, when cold air from the north often collides with warmer, moist air flowing out of the Gulf of Mexico.