Weather officials say two tornadoes that killed two 76-year-old men in Oklahoma were more powerful than originally thought.
Advertisement
National Weather Service meteorologist Rick Smith said Tuesday’s risk for bad weather was not as great as it was on Monday, when about two dozen tornadoes were reported across six states.
An elderly man was killed Monday evening when a large tornado barreled through the Wynnewood, Okla., area, KYTV reported.
The tornado that killed Barnes is the first EF4 of the year to cause a fatality.
National Weather Service survey teams were in southern Oklahoma on Tuesday morning surveying damage from Monday night’s tornado near Wynnewood.
An EF3 tornado carries wind speeds of 136-165 miles per hour. The other touched down in northern Murray County and dissipated in southeast Pontotoc County, the weather service said. Storms swept through the nation’s midsection Monday, spawning numerous tornadoes.
Vehicles were overturned and homes were damaged, reported Fox News.
Springtime storms will continue their march across the central USA, with big hail and powerful winds again a concern in some areas. Emergency Manager Jason Bryant said that the person died after being trapped in the rubble from a house in Connerville, in the southeast.
The storm system has moved east into the Ohio Valley.
In all, the Storm Prediction Center received 23 reports of tornadoes in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
Lisa Buckner stands in front of where her home used to be as friends and family help to clean up after her home was destroyed by a tornado west of Wynnewood, Okla., in rural Gavin County, Monday, May 9, 2016.
Advertisement
The storm was considered so violent that forecasters declared a “tornado emergency” for communities in the twister’s path. A tornado also destroyed a home in southeastern Nebraska.
