SULFUR, Okla. –
Tornadoes killed four people in Oklahoma and left thousands without power Sunday after a destructive outbreak of severe weather toppled buildings in the heart of a rural town and injured at least 100 people across the state.
More than 20,000 people remained without power after the tornadoes began Saturday night. The destruction was extensive in Sulfur, a city of about 5,000 people, where a tornado destroyed many downtown buildings, tossed cars and buses and sheared the roofs off homes within a 15-block radius.
“You can’t believe the destruction,” Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt said during a visit to the hardest-hit city. “It looks like all the downtown businesses have been destroyed.”
Stitt said about 30 people were injured in Sulfur alone, including some who were at a bar when the tornado hit. Hospitals across the state reported about 100 injuries, including people apparently cut or hit by debris or injured from falls, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.
The deadly weather in Oklahoma added to the dozens of reported tornadoes that wreaked havoc in the center of the country since Friday. On Sunday, Iowa authorities said a man injured during a tornado that hit the city of Minden on Friday had died, according to local reports.
Officials said the tornado in Sulfur started in a city park before tore through downtown, overturning cars and ripping roofs and walls off brick buildings. The windows and doors of the structures that remained standing were blown away.
“How do you rebuild? This is total devastation,” said Kelly Trussell, a lifelong Sulfur resident, as she surveyed the damage. “It’s crazy, you want to help but where do you start?”
Carolyn Goodman traveled to Sulfur from the nearby town of Ada looking for her former sister-in-law, who Goodman said was at a local bar just before the tornado hit the area. Stitt said one of the victims was found inside a bar, but authorities have not yet identified those killed.
“The bar was destroyed,” Goodman said. “I know they probably won’t find her alive…but I hope she’s still alive.”
Farther north, a tornado near the town of Holdenville killed two people and damaged or destroyed more than a dozen homes, according to Hughes County Emergency Medical Services. Another person died along Interstate 35 near the southern Oklahoma city of Marietta, state officials said.
The heavy rains that devastated Oklahoma with tornadoes also caused dangerous flooding and water rescues had to be carried out. Outside of Sulfur, rising lake levels closed the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, where storms washed out a pedestrian bridge.
Stitt issued an executive order Sunday declaring a state of emergency in 12 counties due to the consequences of the severe weather.
In the Sulfur High School gym, where families sheltered from the storm, Jackalyn Wright said she and her family heard what sounded like a helicopter as the tornado touched down above them.
Chad Smith, 43, said people ran toward the gym when the wind picked up. The rain began to fall faster and the doors slammed shut. “Just give me a beer and a lawn chair and I’ll sit outside and watch it,” Smith said. Instead, he took cover.
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 across farmland and subdivisions, then struck an Iowa town.
Tornado damage began Friday afternoon near Lincoln, Nebraska. An industrial building in Lancaster County was hit and caused it to collapse with 70 people inside. Several were trapped, but all were evacuated and the three injured were not life-threatening, authorities said.
One or possibly two tornadoes spent about an hour moving toward Omaha, leaving behind damage consistent with an EF3 tornado, with winds of 135 to 165 mph (217 to 265 km/h), said Chris Franks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Omaha Office.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds spent Saturday touring the damage and organizing assistance for damaged communities. Formal damage assessments are still being done, but states plan to seek federal help.
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Associated Press writers Acacia Coronado in Austin, Texas, and Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.