HOLDENVILLE, Okla. Tornadoes that ripped through Oklahoma and destroyed buildings in a rural town killed at least four people, Gov. Kevin Stitt said Sunday.
Almost 30,000 people were left without power after the tornadoes that began on Saturday night and left a wide trail of destruction. Damage was extensive in Sulphur, a city of about 5,000 people, where some downtown buildings were reduced to rubble and roofs were ripped off homes within a 15-block radius.
Stitt said about 30 people were injured in Sulphur.
Dozens of reported tornadoes have wreaked havoc across the central region of the country since Friday, with flood watches and warnings in effect Sunday for some states.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. The previous AP story follows below.
Tornadoes that ripped through Oklahoma left a wide trail of destruction on Sunday, destroying homes and buildings and cutting power to tens of thousands of residents. At least three people died, including a child.
Dozens of reported tornadoes have wreaked havoc across the central region since Friday, with flood watches and warnings in effect Sunday for Oklahoma and other states — including Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas.
In Oklahoma, a tornado ripped through Holdenville, a town of about 5,000, on Saturday night, killing two people and injuring four others, Hughes County Emergency Medical Services said in a statement Sunday. Another person was killed along Interstate 35 near the southern Oklahoma city of Marietta, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.
In Holdenville, homes were demolished and traffic signs were torn down in the community about 80 miles (129 kilometers) from Oklahoma City. The sound of chainsaws could be heard in the distance as workers began to deal with the damage.
“My prayers are with those who lost loved ones when tornadoes devastated Oklahoma last night,” Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement.
He issued an executive order Sunday declaring a state of emergency in 12 counties due to the fallout from the severe weather, as crews worked to clear debris and assess damage from the powerful storms that downed power lines. Later in the day, he planned to visit the southern Oklahoma town of Sulphur, where some buildings were reduced to piles of rubble.
More than 30,000 customers were without power in Oklahoma as of noon Sunday, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks power outages. In Texas, nearly 52,000 customers were left without power.
In Sulphur, authorities reported unspecified injuries along with significant destruction when the tornado began in a city park before striking downtown Sulphur. Search and rescue operations were underway, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
Local media photos showed several buildings destroyed and roofs ripped off houses. The Murray County Sheriff’s Office urged people to stay away from the city to make way for first responders following the extensive damage caused by the tornadoes, according to a statement posted by the agency on Facebook.
“Stay home and don’t come looking,” the sheriff’s office said.
A hospital was damaged in Marietta, according to the Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management, which also said I-35 was closed at the Texas border “due to overturned vehicles and power lines in the highway.”
Residents in other states were also recovering from storm damage. A tornado in suburban Omaha, Nebraska, demolished homes and businesses Saturday as it moved for miles through farmland and subdivisions, then struck an Iowa town.
Fewer than two dozen people were treated at Omaha-area hospitals, said Dr. Lindsay Huse, health director for the city’s Douglas County Health Department.
“Miraculous,” she said, stressing that none of the city’s injuries were serious. Neighboring communities reported a few injuries each.
Tornado damage began Friday afternoon near Lincoln, Nebraska. An industrial building in Lancaster County was hit, causing it to collapse with 70 people inside. Several were trapped, but all were evacuated and the three injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.
One or possibly two tornadoes spent about an hour tracking toward Omaha, leaving behind damage consistent with an EF3 tornado, with winds of 130 to 160 mph, said Chris Franks, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Omaha.
Ultimately, the tornado struck the west Omaha neighborhood of Elkhorn, a city of 485,000 with a metro area population of about 1 million.
Staci Roe assessed the damage to what was supposed to be her “forever home,” which was not even two years old. When the tornado hit, they were at the airport picking up a friend who was supposed to stay the night.
“There was no home to go to,” she said, describing “utter terror” when she first saw him.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds spent Saturday touring the damage and providing assistance to damaged communities. Formal damage assessments are still underway, but states plan to seek federal assistance.
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Associated Press journalists Acacia Coronado in Austin, Texas, and Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.
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