Tornadoes tear through central US
AT LEAST 13 INJURED AS HEAVY RAINS TRIGGER FLOODS AND DESTROY HOMES
Multiple tornadoes injured at least 13 as they tore through the central United States on Wednesday destroying homes and felling trees amid heavy rains that triggered local flooding, US media reported.
At least 13 people were injured when a tornado tore through a mobile home park in Oklahoma City, CNN reported, quoting Susie Patterson of the Emergency Medical Services Authority in Oklahoma City.
Authorities are set to survey the damage left behind after tornadoes swept across the southern Plains, overturning cars and destroying dozens of homes near Oklahoma City.
“We’ll have much better picture of how widespread the damage is when the sun comes up tomorrow,” meteorologist Forrest Mitchell with the National Weather Service in Norman said.
Oklahoma hardest hit
The Oklahoma City area seemed to be the hardest hit. A twister destroyed homes in Grady County, southwest of the city, and it appeared another tornado touched down in the area later on Wednesday evening when a second storm came through.
“We do strongly think there was a tornado on the south side of Oklahoma City,” meteorologist Michael Scotten said after the second storm that hit around 8.40pm. That storm flipped vehicles on Interstate 35 and left power lines strewn across the roadway, Scotten said.
Lara O’Leary, a spokeswoman for Emergency Medical Services Authority, said the company transported 12 patients from a trailer park in south Oklahoma City to local hospitals. She did not have further details about the extent of the injuries.
Grady County Emergency Management Director Dale Thompson said about 10 homes were destroyed in Amber and 25 were destroyed in Bridge Creek. As the storm moved to the east, forecasters declared a tornado emergency for Moore, where seven schoolchildren were among 24 people killed in a storm two years ago.
When the first of the storms moved through on Wednesday, school districts held their pupils in safe places.
Also in Grady County, all animals were accounted for after a zoo in Tuttle was hit by a tornado, Alisa Voegeli, a dispatcher at the sheriff’s office, said. The damage had initially prompted fears that wild animals had escaped.
At Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, people were twice evacuated into a tunnel outside the security zone.
After the tornadoes passed through, flash flooding remained a concern.
The National Weather Service received widespread reports of 120 to 200mm of rain in the area, Mitchell said. A measurement of 178mm at the Oklahoma City airport set a new daily rainfall record, he said, topping the previous record of 66mm.
Oklahoma City spokeswoman Kristy Yager said the rainfall prompted the city to issue a flash flood emergency for the first time in its history. Emergency crews were canvassing the city, she said.
The National Weather Service received widespread reports of 120 to 200mm of rain in the area. A measurement of 178mm at the Oklahoma City airport set a new daily rainfall record topping the previous record of 66mm.