SULFUR, Okla. (AP) — A tornado killed four people in Oklahoma on Sunday after a devastating outbreak of severe weather destroyed a building in the center of a rural town and injured at least 100 people across the state. , thousands of people lost power.
More than 20,000 people remained without power after the tornado struck late Saturday night. Destruction was widespread in Sulphur, a town of about 5,000 people, with the tornado crushing many buildings downtown, hurling cars and buses, and ripping roofs off 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 Sulfur alone injured about 30 people, including some who were at the bar at the time of the tornado. According to the Oklahoma State Emergency Management Agency, hospitals across the state reported about 100 injuries, including people who appeared to have suffered cuts, impacts or falls from shrapnel.
President Joe Biden met with Gov. Stitt on Sunday and offered the federal government's full support, White House officials said.
Terrible weather in Oklahoma has spawned dozens of reported tornadoes, causing extensive damage. Central part of the country since Friday. Iowa officials announced Sunday that a man injured in a tornado that struck the town of Minden on Friday has died. Go to local report.
Officials said the sulfur tornado started in a city park and then raced through downtown, flipping over cars and ripping off the roofs and walls of 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 to look for her former sister-in-law. Goodman said her sister-in-law 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 of other states were also digging out there. storm damage.suburban tornado Omaha, Nebraska; On Saturday, it traveled several miles through farmland and into subdivisions, destroying homes and businesses and hitting an Iowa town.
A man is struck by a tornado after severe storms hit the night before in Sulfur, Oklahoma, on Sunday, April 28, 2024. (Brian Terry/The Oklahoman, Associated Press)
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.
A partially torn roof is seen on a damaged house in Omaha, Nebraska, Saturday, April 27, 2024. On Friday, dozens of tornadoes were reported across the Midwest, causing extensive damage. (Chris McKean/Omaha World-Herald, via AP)
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, bringing winds of 135 to 165 mph (217 to 265 kph). It is said to have caused damage comparable to that of the EF3 twister. .
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.
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Associated Press writers Acacia Coronado in Austin, Texas, and Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.
