INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Tornadoes killed four people in Oklahoma, including an infant, and left thousands without power Sunday after a destructive outbreak of
severe weather flattened buildings in the heart of one rural town and injured at least 100 people across the state.More than 20,000 people
were still without electricity hours after tornadoes began late Saturday night
The destruction was extensive in Sulphur, a town of about 5,000 people, where a tornado crumpled many downtown buildings, tossed cars and
Kevin Stitt said during a visit to the hard-hit town
bar as the tornado struck
Hospitals across the state reported about 100 injuries, including people apparently cut or struck by debris, according to the Oklahoma
Department of Emergency Management
An infant was among those killed, Hughes County Emergency Management Director Mike Dockrey told Oklahoma television station KOCO.White House
officials said President Joe Biden spoke to Stitt on Sunday and offered the full support of the federal government.The deadly weather in
Another death was reported Sunday in Iowa, where officials in Pottawattamie County said a man critically injured during a tornado Friday had
died.In Oklahoma, authorities said the tornado in Sulphur began in a city park before barreling through the downtown, flipping cars and
ripping the roofs and walls off of brick buildings
Trussell, a lifelong Sulphur resident as she surveyed the damage
former sister-in-law, who Goodman said was at a local bar just before the tornado hit the area
dozen homes, according to the Hughes County Emergency Medical Service
Another person was killed along Interstate 35 near the southern Oklahoma city of Marietta, state officials said.Heavy rains that swept into
Oklahoma with the tornadoes also caused dangerous flooding and water rescues
Outside Sulphur, rising lake levels shut down the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, where the storms wiped out a pedestrian bridge.Stitt
issued an executive order Sunday declaring a state of emergency in 12 counties due to the fallout from the severe weather.At the Sulphur
High School gym, where families took cover from the storm, Jackalyn Wright said she and her family heard what sounded like a helicopter as
the tornado touched down over them.Chad Smith, 43, said people ran into the gym as the wind picked up
The rain started coming faster and the doors slammed shut
Instead, he took cover.Residents in other states were also digging out from storm damage
A tornado in suburban Omaha, Nebraska, demolished homes and businesses Saturday as it moved for miles through farmland and into
subdivisions, then slammed an Iowa town.The 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 everyone was evacuated, and the three injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.One or possibly two
tornadoes then spent around an hour creeping toward Omaha, leaving behind damage consistent with an EF3 twister, with winds of 135 to 165
Kim Reynolds spent Saturday touring the damage and arranging for assistance for the damaged communities
Formal damage assessments are still underway, but the states plan to seek federal help.Source: AP--Agencies
