Strong storms with tornadoes that plowed across the central U.S. killed at least three people in Oklahoma and left thousands without power Thursday as forecasters warned of potentially more severe weather.
Authorities were still unsure of the full scale of injuries and destruction in Oklahoma, the storms produced at least eight tornadoes and brought hail up to 3 inches in diameter, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm flattened homes, turned over 18-wheelers and damaged businesses. Employees of a pizza restaurant said they took shelter in the walk-in freezer, and when they emerged, portions of the roof and shattered windows littered the parking lot. The NWS said that teams were out Thursday surveying the damage.
“There are definitely dozens of various injuries, from minor all the way up to fatalities,” said Deputy Sheriff Scott Gibbons of McClain County, south of Oklahoma City.
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Deadly storms this spring have killed dozens of people across a wide swath of country. More bad weather, and a chance of more tornadoes, were possible Thursday night from Texas to Wisconsin, according to the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center.
Two of the deaths in Oklahoma were in the small town of Cole. A third person who was injured by the tornado has also died, authorities said, but it was not clear where the person was injured. Officials said the twister also devastated Shawnee.
People there also were injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to some requiring hospitalization, although the numbers weren't immediately clear as hundreds of people fanned out in search operations.
The threat started Wednesday night when the the National Weather Service began issuing tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings in Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa. Forecasters warned people to find shelter.
The McClain County Sheriff's Office said at least three people were killed in the small town of Cole and there also were injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to some requiring hospitalization, although the numbers weren't immediately clear as hundreds of people fanned out in search operations.
“It is reasonable to expect possibly more based on the damage that we’ve seen,” Deputy Sheriff Scott Gibbons of the McClain County sheriff’s department told NBC's “Today” show Thursday morning of the potential for additional deaths to be confirmed.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt visited Shawnee, where officials Thursday focused on damage assessment after spending the night looking for victims and survivors of the storm. The number of injuries and homes and buildings damaged was not yet known, said Benny Fulkerson of the Department of Emergency Management.
The storm rippled down power lines, toppled trees and left a trail of badly damaged homes and buildings. Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee and an airport were damaged before the tornado moved away and weakened.
“The damage is unbelievable when you walk through there,” Stitt said after touring Shawnee.
Stitt said almost every building at OBU was damaged, but all of the students and faculty have been accounted for.
Following the storms, Stitt declared a state of emergency in five counties: Cleveland, Lincoln, McClain, Oklahoma and Pottawatomie.
At the peak of the severe weather, more than 23,000 customers were without electricity throughout Oklahoma, according to poweroutage.us.
NBC affiliate KFOR-TV reported that residents south of Oklahoma City reported being trapped in their shelters underground, mailboxes were blown away and emergency crews used GPS to find addresses, according to the McClain County sheriff. Two people told the station they jumped in a manhole in the street to take cover from the storm.
Two people in the town of Cole rode out the storm in a manhole and were not hurt, the television station reported.
Cole is 25 miles south of Oklahoma City.
Forecasters warned that possible tornadoes in Texas could form later Thursday before the storm moves northward across Arkansas and into Missouri. Large hail and tornadoes were also possible in Missouri and across Illinois into Wisconsin, according to the prediction center.
A March 31 storm produced tornadoes that killed at least 32 people from Arkansas to Delaware, and days later a tornado left five dead in Missouri. At least 26 died in Mississippi and Alabama when tornadoes during a late March storm carved a path of destruction through the Deep South.
