An exceptional number of tornadoes have devastated parts of Oklahoma and other nearby states in the Great Plains of the central United States, leaving at least five dead, local authorities and media reported on Sunday (04/28/2024).
After 78 tornadoes occurred on Friday, mainly in Iowa and Nebraska, 35 more were recorded on Saturday from northern Texas and Oklahoma to Missouri, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The storms have dumped up to 18 centimeters of rain in some places in a matter of hours and forecasters have warned of a lingering danger of extreme weather this Sunday, including flash flooding, hail and more tornadoes.
Oklahoma was especially affected late on Saturday, according to videos and images of dozens of destroyed buildings.
The governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, confirmed this Sunday from the small city of Sulfur the death of four people throughout the state.
The damage in Sulfur, where a woman died, was the worst he has seen in his six years in office, the official said at a news conference.
“It looks like every business downtown has been destroyed,” he said. “Thank God… there weren’t many people here at 10:30 at night,” she added.
At least two of those who died in that state perished in the town of Holdenville, reported the Department of Emergency Management (OEM). Local media reported that among the victims was a four-month-old baby.
The OEM assured that a fourth person died on a highway in Marietta, in southern Oklahoma, where videos published by the press show several damaged cars on a highway and affected infrastructure.
The NWS reported that the tornadoes in Sulfur and Marietta were at least EF-3, on the five-level Enhanced Fujita Scale, which means gusts greater than 218 kilometers per hour.
Governor Stitt declared a state of emergency for 30 days to expedite aid to 12 of the most affected counties.
Additionally, in Iowa, a man who was injured by a tornado on Friday later died in the hospital, his family told KETV NewsWatch 7.
More than 25,000 homes in Texas and about 19,000 in Oklahoma were without power as of Sunday afternoon, according to the PowerOutage website.
Tornadoes, a meteorological phenomenon that is as impressive as it is difficult to predict, are relatively common in the United States, particularly in the central and southern parts of the country during the spring. However, according to meteorologists, a succession of large tornadoes is very rare.
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