Tornadoes rumbled through the heart of Oklahoma on Monday, killing at least two people and damaging structures.
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A photo tweeted by the National Weather Service in Oklahoma shows the advice on where to take shelter can be life saving.
In the rolling hills between Oklahoma City and Dallas, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol closed Interstate 35 near Wynnewood for 15 minutes Monday so the storm could pass.
Another storm later produced a third tornado and there were reports of smaller twisters along with golf ball-sized hail that damaged houses and other buildings.
Tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas, Iowa and IL.
The two reported fatalities were in Wynnewood and Connerville, both towns in southern Oklahoma, according to The Associated Press. A storm earlier in the day killed a man in a home near Wynnewood. Forecasters issued a “tornado emergency” for communities in that area, noting the storm could be particularly violent. However, because the wind speeds were sampled from radar and did not correspond with damage assessments, El Reno’s official EF rating stands at EF3.
But communities along the Ohio River saw strong storms, and tornadoes were reported in southern IL and western Kentucky. The man, who wasn’t immediately identified, died when a large, fast-moving tornado swept through Garvin County, said Bud Ramming, the county’s emergency management director.
Kentucky State Police said in a statement that at least 10 people were hurt and an unknown number of homes and businesses were damaged when a tornado tracked across Graves County in the western part of the state Tuesday afternoon. This weather prediction comes in light of the storm cleanups and restorations already being done across towns after Monday’s devastating hit.
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KWTV News 9 Meteorologist David Payne estimates it was either an EF-2 or EF-3 tornado. Two tornados also touched down in Nebraska, about 30 miles south of Omaha. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center warned that more twisters could be spawned that will affect areas between eastern Oklahoma to central Arkansas.
