Dozens of tornadoes have been leveling towns, closing highways and cutting off power throughout the Midwest since Friday, and it’s been revealed that at least four people have died from the severe weather front.
Twisters ripped through Holdenville, Oklahoma on Saturday night, with officials confirming this morning that there have been four fatalities, including one child.
Flood watches and warnings are in effect Sunday for Oklahoma, one of the hardest hit states, as well as Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas.
Hughes County Emergency Management confirmed the deaths in Holdenville, one of them a 4-month-old baby, on top of 14 homes being damaged or destroyed and 100 people suffering tornado-related injuries.
The search for trapped or missing individuals in the town started Saturday night after the storm left the area. The four-month-old child, who lived in a house that was reportedly destroyed, was among the people authorities were looking for.
The child was found and taken to a hospital but was later pronounced dead.
As authorities assess the damage to Holdenville and other towns that were struck by tornados, the death toll is feared to increase as the day goes on.
A man walks past a damaged building on Sunday after it was hit by a tornado on Saturday in Sulphur, Oklahoma
This photo captures a severe tornado in Lancaster, Nebraska, one of the first to form in the spree of twisters over the weekend
Tornado damage in Sulphur collapsed rubble on white pickup truck (pictured right)
A tornado touches down on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Lincoln, Nebraska
Sean Thomas Sledd salvages items from his room after it was hit by a tornado the night before in Sulphur, Oklahoma on April 28, 2024
This image taken from video provided by KOCO 5 shows buildings destroyed by a tornado in Sulphur, Oklahoma on Sunday, April 28, 2024
Further damage seen in Sulphur, Oklahoma, where an infant died in the natural disaster
In Sulphur (pictured) another unidentified person died during the tornado that hit Saturday night
An aerial view of the damage in Sulphur, the city Governor Kevin Stitt plans to visit Sunday
People walk the streets of Sulphur on Sunday to look at tornado damage
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt issued a statement Sunday morning: ‘My prayers are with those who lost loved ones as tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma last night.
‘Thank you to Oklahoma Emergency Management and those who have worked through the night to keep Oklahomans safe and have worked to clear debris and assess damage.’
Stitt has also declared a state of emergency in 12 counties as crews work to clear debris and assess damage from the severe storms that tore down power lines. Later in the day, he plans to tour the southern Oklahoma city of Sulphur, where many buildings are unrecognizable.
Stitt said about 30 people were injured in Sulphur at a news conference in the town, the Idaho Press reported.
‘You just can’t believe the destruction,’ Stitt said. ‘It seems like every business downtown has been destroyed.’
Sulphur is around 65 miles southwest of Holdenville, and devastating video of its complete annihilation went viral on social media.
The videos, captured by Brandon Clement, show Sulphur in complete ruin.
The first video was taken while it was still dark and shows the rubble Sulphur’s downtown has been reduced to.
Clement recorded the second video with a drone and panned over the entire town of Sulphur, showing destroyed buildings, downed powerlines and upturned cars.
A man is surrounded by tornado damage after severe storms moved through the night before in Sulphur
Charlie Schwake walks past his property in Sulphur
Damaged storefronts in Sulphur
A man walks past flipped and damaged cars in Sulphur
A bulldozer trying to clear away rubble in Sulphur
A drone view shows emergency personnel working at the site of damaged buildings in the aftermath of a tornado in Omaha, Nebraska
A house at Sycamore Farms in Waterloo, Nebraska, on Saturday, April 27, 2024
Workers clean up the debris at Sycamore Farms in Waterloo, Nebraska, on Saturday, April 27, 2024, after a tornado damaged the property the day before
Heavy storm clouds appear as a tornado moves through suburbs northwest of Omaha on Friday, April 26, 2024
Marietta, another town in Oklahoma, suffered damage to its hospital though no patients were injured, according to the Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management. The Chickasaw Nation is also supporting the storm response in Marietta, the state agency added.
As people in small towns across the Midwest pick up the pieces, the weather threat isn’t remotely over. Approximately 27 million Americans are still at risk of of severe weather into Sunday, including wind gusts, hail, flood risk, and potentially more tornadoes, NBC News reported.
Over 34,000 Oklahomans were without power as of Sunday morning, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks electric utility outages. In Texas, the northern section of which was hit with at least 10 twisters, nearly 67,000 customers are without power.
The numbers of households without power have steadily gone down throughout the afternoon. As of 4:15 pm Sunday, there are just under 22,000 Oklahomans without power and nearly 30,000 Texans who still don’t have electricity.
Based on forecasts from the National Weather Service, there are at least five cities at risk of experiencing tornados Sunday.
Springfield, Missouri; Little Rock, Arkansas; Houston, Texas; and Lake Charles, Louisiana, all have a two to four percent chance of tornados. Shreveport, Louisiana has an up to 9 percent chance of tornados.
The outskirts of Tulsa, Oklahoma and Dallas, Texas could also be affected.
A drone view shows people inspecting the site of damaged buildings in the aftermath of a tornado in Omaha, Nebraska
Damaged houses are seen after a tornado passed through the area near Omaha, Nebraska on Friday, April 26, 2024
Families sift through the destruction from a tornado near Omaha
Gopala Penmetsa walks past his house after it was leveled by a tornado near Omaha
Emergency crews respond after a tornado collapsed a Garner Industries facility in Lincoln, Nebraska, with 70 people inside. No one died but there were three non-life-threatening injuries
Damage from the tornado at Garner Industries is seen on Friday outside Waverly, Nebraska
The onslaught of tornados kicked off Friday afternoon near Lincoln, Nebraska, where an industrial building in Lancaster County was hit.
The Garner Industries facility collapsed with 70 people inside. Several were trapped, but everyone was evacuated, and the three injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.
One or perhaps two tornados that left damage consistent with a EF3 twister (135mph to 165mph winds) then began to move toward Omaha, said a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Omaha office.
The tornado hit Elkhorn, Nebraska, on the outskirts of Omaha, at about 4 pm on Friday where it wrecked at least six homes – all of them newly built – and damaged dozens more.
‘The whole neighborhood just to the north of us is pretty flattened,’ Kim Woods, whose house was mostly spared, said.
One of the first twisters hit Elkhorn, Nebraska, on the outskirts of Omaha, about 4pm on Friday where it wrecked at least six homes – all of them newly built – and damaged dozens more
People are pick through the rubble of a house that was leveled in Elkhorn, Nebraska. Residents began sifting through the rubble after a tornado plowed through suburban Omaha
Debris is spread all over a Minden, Iowa property as friends, family and coworkers help clean up the damage on Saturday, April 27, 2024, after a tornado the previous evening
Damage is seen to a neighborhood after a tornado moved through the area in Minden, Iowa, Saturday, April 27, 2024
Those capturing pictures of the swirling storms were able to get particularly close
Staci Roe, on the other hand, wasn’t as lucky. She said the irreparable damage to her two-year-old ‘forever home’ caused her ‘utter dread’ when she saw it for the first time.
‘There was no home to come to,’ Roe said.
Another tornado began elsewhere in Omaha about 5pm on Friday and flung planes at Eppley Airfield around like toys and ripped them to shreds.
The passenger terminal wasn’t hit by the tornado but people rushed to storm shelters until the twister passed.
A storm chaser filmed one of the tornadoes crossing highway near Omaha, churning up debris from both the road and adjacent farmland.
Another tornado began elsewhere in Omaha about 5pm and flung planes at Eppley Airfield around like toys and ripped them to shreds
Storm chasers also documented a tornado crossing a highway near Omaha, revealing the destructive power of the funnel-shaped storm
Ultra wide view of the damage done to Minden, Iowa by a tornado that struck Friday
Omaha Public Power District trucks line up to restore power at a property in Waterloo, Nebraska, on Saturday, April 27, 2024
Another view of a town near Omaha, Nebraska that was damaged by a tornado
A tornado caught on camera in Lancaster, Nebraska, which damaged an industrial facility with 70 people inside
The driver came across an overturned big rig that had been flipped by the powerful tornado which could still be seen churning away in the distance.
Photos on social media showed heavily damaged homes and shredded trees. Video showed homes with roofs stripped of roof tiles, in a rural area near Omaha.
Fewer than two dozen people were treated at hospitals in the Omaha-area, said Dr. Lindsay Huse, health director of the city’s Douglas County Health Department.
A third, very powerful tornado, developed about the same time on Friday and cut a swathe through hundreds of miles of both Nebraska and Iowa.
Minden, Iowa, was hit particularly hard with half the town’s buildings damaged, four people injured, and the whole community cut off.
‘About 40 homes, maybe 50, were destroyed, gas leaks, wires down, a lot of debris. So it’s a very dangerous area, except for the people that live here, Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy Jeff Theulen said.
‘Obviously, they’re trying to take care of their houses and our thoughts and prayers are with them.’
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds spent Saturday touring the damage and arranging for assistance for the tornado-devastated communities. Formal damage assessments are still underway, but the two states plan to seek federal help.