Tornadoes Reported in Oklahoma as Storms Batter Central and Southern U.S.
Severe storms were lashing the central United States early Tuesday, after a tornado destroyed parts of two communities in Oklahoma and large hail fell in Kansas. Earlier, the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center issued a rare “high risk” severe storm threat for the region, warning of intense thunderstorms with hurricane-force winds that could continue all night.
At least 15 tornadoes were reported to have struck parts of the central United States by Monday evening.
Seven of the tornadoes were reported to have touched down in Oklahoma, two in Iowa, two in Kansas, two in South Dakota, one in Nebraska, and one in Tennessee, according to the Weather Service. Baseball-sized hail fell in Kansas. The extent of the damage was unclear, the service added, but more severe weather, possibly including more tornadoes, was expected.
A tornado took out about a third of the small city of Barnsdall in northeast Oklahoma, destroying or damaging buildings and injuring multiple people who were hospitalized in about 20 ambulances, said Jerry Roberts, the emergency management director in Osage County. The tornado also lifted the roof off a nursing home in Barnsdall, said Steven Cobb, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Tulsa.
As the storm bore down, the National Weather Service issued a rare tornado emergency alert, which warns of catastrophic damage and severe threat to human life, for about 30 minutes in part of Osage County and Washington County in Oklahoma.
The tornado destroyed power lines along its path, leaving entire towns without electricity, Mr. Cobb said. It touched down near Barnsdall at around 9:30 p.m. and moved northeast toward Bartlesville, until it lifted off the ground there at about 10:15 p.m., he said.