Cebu_4_2
31st May 2013, 07:45 PM
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http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/31/18648500-tornado-emergency-with-extensive-damage-critical-injuries-reported-in-oklahoma-city-suburbs?lite
Tornado emergency with extensive damage, critical injuries reported in Oklahoma City suburbs
Watch live coverage from NBC station KFOR of Oklahoma City.
By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News
Multiple tornadoes — including a mile-wide twister that injured several people — touched down Friday night in the Oklahoma City area, just miles from where a monster tornado killed 24 people last week.
Multiple injuries were reported along Interstates 35 and 40 after the biggest tornado touched down near El Reno, in Canadian County west of Oklahoma City, authorities said. At least two people were critically injured, Jim Winham, general manager of the state Emergency Medical Services Authority, told NBC station KFOR of Oklahoma City.
Extensive damage was reported around El Reno and Yukon.
The tornado turned south from Oklahoma City toward the suburb of Moore, which was hit by a devastating twister on May 20 that killed 24 people and injured hundreds of others.
About 52,000 customers were without power, 12,000 of them in Moore, electric utilities reported.
A vehicle being used by Weather Channel personnel near El Reno was thrown 200 yards by the tornado, said Mike Bettes, a meteorologist for the station. Bettes and his crew weren't hurt, but the vehicle was destroyed.
Interstates 35 and 40 were closed, said the state Highway Patrol, which reported numerous crashes that injured several people.
"We've got a terrible situation going on," Trooper Betsy Randolph told KFOR.
Several tornadoes hit the area, but the biggest one caused extensive damage as it bore down on greater Oklahoma City, the state capital, The Weather Channel and KFOR reported. It skirted south of the city's downtown and headed south toward Moore.
The weather service declared a tornado emergency for the metropolitan area and south, signifying conditions that could lead to widespread damage and a high likelihood of casualties.
"It's as clear as day — it is heading for downtown Oklahoma City," KFOR meteorologist Mike Morgan said.
Chris Hayes talks with Moore police Sgt. Jeremy Lewis on the ground in Oklahoma as residents evacuate from the tornado that touched down Friday night.
At Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, where winds hit 71 mph, all flights were canceled and about 1,000 travelers were herded underground, where they were told to put their hands on their heads, NBC News' Janet Shamlian reported.
Tornado warnings — meaning a tunnel cloud that could become a tornado had been spotted in the area — were in effect for numerous counties in Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin on Friday night. Forecasters sounded the alarm that much of the Midwest — already pummeled by a week of tornadoes and flooded with drenching rains — was facing another round of violent weather overnight and into the weekend.
Observers at Tinker Air Force Base reported a tornado on the ground near the base southwest of Oklahoma.In Norman, home to the University of Oklahoma, a tornado touched down near Norman North High School and Norman Regional Hospital.
Another tornado touched down Friday night 7 miles northeast of Moscow Mills, Mo., about 50 miles northwest of St. Louis. The weather service said it was moving northeast at 30 mph and was likely to cause heavy damage and extremely dangerous flying debris.
The National Weather Service even evacuated its St. Louis office in Weldon Spring as tornado warnings were in effect for north and northeastern St. Louis and surrounding counties.
Meteorologists were tracking a tornado moving into Moore, Okla., as well as other systems moving through the state. Overnight, Chicago, St. Louis and Oklahoma City could be damaged by dangerous winds. Rain and hail were in the forecast from New England to the Deep South. Kelly Cass of The Weather Channel reports.
Severe storm warnings, meanwhile, stretched from Minnesota and Michigan south to Arkansas. Forecasters said storms overnight could bring several intense tornadoes, hail up to 4 inches in diameter and wind gusts approaching 80 mph.
An extraordinarily unstable air mass across central and eastern Oklahoma will churn out severe "supercell" thunderstorms over most of the state, forecasters said.
"Cells that form over southwestern or west-central Oklahoma will move east with a very high threat of giant hail and a few strong to violent tornadoes," the National Weather Service said late Friday afternoon.
Heavy rain had already caused flash-flooding Friday in Missouri and in Iowa, where a police officer swimming to rescue a man from his truck had to be rescued himself. Residents of Missouri and Illinois were erecting sandbag walls in areas that still haven't dried out from floods in April.
"It's like a freight train," Cathy Pickens, general manager a bar and restaurant whose parking lot was inundated, told KSHB. "That water goes so fast, and it's just amazing how fast it moves."
Edit: also formatted so you can read the text block.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/31/18648500-tornado-emergency-with-extensive-damage-critical-injuries-reported-in-oklahoma-city-suburbs?lite
Tornado emergency with extensive damage, critical injuries reported in Oklahoma City suburbs
Watch live coverage from NBC station KFOR of Oklahoma City.
By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News
Multiple tornadoes — including a mile-wide twister that injured several people — touched down Friday night in the Oklahoma City area, just miles from where a monster tornado killed 24 people last week.
Multiple injuries were reported along Interstates 35 and 40 after the biggest tornado touched down near El Reno, in Canadian County west of Oklahoma City, authorities said. At least two people were critically injured, Jim Winham, general manager of the state Emergency Medical Services Authority, told NBC station KFOR of Oklahoma City.
Extensive damage was reported around El Reno and Yukon.
The tornado turned south from Oklahoma City toward the suburb of Moore, which was hit by a devastating twister on May 20 that killed 24 people and injured hundreds of others.
About 52,000 customers were without power, 12,000 of them in Moore, electric utilities reported.
A vehicle being used by Weather Channel personnel near El Reno was thrown 200 yards by the tornado, said Mike Bettes, a meteorologist for the station. Bettes and his crew weren't hurt, but the vehicle was destroyed.
Interstates 35 and 40 were closed, said the state Highway Patrol, which reported numerous crashes that injured several people.
"We've got a terrible situation going on," Trooper Betsy Randolph told KFOR.
Several tornadoes hit the area, but the biggest one caused extensive damage as it bore down on greater Oklahoma City, the state capital, The Weather Channel and KFOR reported. It skirted south of the city's downtown and headed south toward Moore.
The weather service declared a tornado emergency for the metropolitan area and south, signifying conditions that could lead to widespread damage and a high likelihood of casualties.
"It's as clear as day — it is heading for downtown Oklahoma City," KFOR meteorologist Mike Morgan said.
Chris Hayes talks with Moore police Sgt. Jeremy Lewis on the ground in Oklahoma as residents evacuate from the tornado that touched down Friday night.
At Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, where winds hit 71 mph, all flights were canceled and about 1,000 travelers were herded underground, where they were told to put their hands on their heads, NBC News' Janet Shamlian reported.
Tornado warnings — meaning a tunnel cloud that could become a tornado had been spotted in the area — were in effect for numerous counties in Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin on Friday night. Forecasters sounded the alarm that much of the Midwest — already pummeled by a week of tornadoes and flooded with drenching rains — was facing another round of violent weather overnight and into the weekend.
Observers at Tinker Air Force Base reported a tornado on the ground near the base southwest of Oklahoma.In Norman, home to the University of Oklahoma, a tornado touched down near Norman North High School and Norman Regional Hospital.
Another tornado touched down Friday night 7 miles northeast of Moscow Mills, Mo., about 50 miles northwest of St. Louis. The weather service said it was moving northeast at 30 mph and was likely to cause heavy damage and extremely dangerous flying debris.
The National Weather Service even evacuated its St. Louis office in Weldon Spring as tornado warnings were in effect for north and northeastern St. Louis and surrounding counties.
Meteorologists were tracking a tornado moving into Moore, Okla., as well as other systems moving through the state. Overnight, Chicago, St. Louis and Oklahoma City could be damaged by dangerous winds. Rain and hail were in the forecast from New England to the Deep South. Kelly Cass of The Weather Channel reports.
Severe storm warnings, meanwhile, stretched from Minnesota and Michigan south to Arkansas. Forecasters said storms overnight could bring several intense tornadoes, hail up to 4 inches in diameter and wind gusts approaching 80 mph.
An extraordinarily unstable air mass across central and eastern Oklahoma will churn out severe "supercell" thunderstorms over most of the state, forecasters said.
"Cells that form over southwestern or west-central Oklahoma will move east with a very high threat of giant hail and a few strong to violent tornadoes," the National Weather Service said late Friday afternoon.
Heavy rain had already caused flash-flooding Friday in Missouri and in Iowa, where a police officer swimming to rescue a man from his truck had to be rescued himself. Residents of Missouri and Illinois were erecting sandbag walls in areas that still haven't dried out from floods in April.
"It's like a freight train," Cathy Pickens, general manager a bar and restaurant whose parking lot was inundated, told KSHB. "That water goes so fast, and it's just amazing how fast it moves."