2 Killed By Tornadoes in Central US, More Storms Possible Thursday

Storms with dangerous tornadoes and hail hit the central United States, causing at least two deaths, injuries to other people, destruction of homes and leaving thousands without power.

Wednesday evening, meteorologists warned people in Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa that they should take shelter. Then wild tornadoes came through towns like Shawnee and Cole in Central Oklahoma.

In Cole, a small town located about 25 miles(41 kilometers) south of Oklahoma City, two people sadly died and many others were hurt. The injuries ranged from minor cuts and bruises to some that required hospitalization. Lots of people are helping out in the search for those injured or missing due to this tragedy.

Deputy Sheriff Scott Gibbons from McClain County said on the “Today Show” that there may be more deaths due to the destruction caused by the tornado. The tornado also brought down power lines, knocked over trees, and destroyed or badly damaged homes, buildings and Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, as well as an airport before it weakened.

Benny Fulkerson, who works at the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, said in a statement on Wednesday that although they don’t know exactly how many homes and businesses have been damaged, it was clear that it is bad. At its peak, over 23,000 people had no power in Oklahoma because of the severe storm.

Residents living south of Oklahoma City stated that they were stuck in their underground shelters during the storm. The impact of the storm was so strong even some mailboxes got wiped out, so emergency teams had to use GPS technology to find people’s houses.

Also, two people hid from the storm inside a manhole and escaped without any injuries reported by KFOR-TV news station.

The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center has predicted that there will be more storms on Thursday, with some of them having a chance of producing tornadoes. These stormy areas may be seen in parts of Texas all the way to Wisconsin. The storms are expected to bring strong winds and hail, as well as possibly bringing in one or two tornadoes!

This spring, really bad storms have caused tornadoes in the South, Midwest and Northeast and sadly, killed many people. On April 1st, tornadoes killed 32 people from Arkansas to Delaware, while on a later day, five people were fatally injured in Missouri. Even worse, 26 deaths occurred in Mississippi and Alabama due to tornadoes created by other storms during late March.