(DailyDig.com) – Numerous tornadoes hit a vast section of the southern US during two days in April. Oklahoma experienced great damage to homes and other buildings, injuring nearly 100 people. Four people are known to be dead so far, including a baby.
The storms in Nebraska and Iowa that occurred on April 26 caused widespread destruction and one death. During the destructive weather, power was out to over 40,000 homes and businesses, according to state officials.
On April 27 in Oklahoma, the destruction was extensive in the town of Sulphur, where nearly 5,000 citizens live. The town suffered from flattened houses and buildings in the downtown area. In a radius of 15 blocks, the tornado threw buses and cars around and ripped off the roofs of houses.
Oklahoma’s governor, Kevin Stitt, declared that the downtown area appears to have been completely destroyed. During his visit to review the devastation, he also commented that he hardly believed how destructive the tornado was.
According to Stitt, the tornado in Oklahoma left four people dead and nearly 100 injured in area hospitals. The Department of Emergency Management (DEM) reported that flying debris, glass cuts, and blunt-force trauma injured many of these citizens.
The Oklahoma Weather Service has confirmed that twenty-two tornadoes spread destruction throughout their state. The tornadoes, rated as EF-3, with winds exceeding 136 mph, struck Sulphur and another town, Marietta. The DEM reported flooding, trees being ripped out of the ground and strewn about, and downed power lines as evidence of the tragedy.
With heavy rains predicted after the deadly storms, flooding is a concern for Oklahoma residents and visitors. Authorities closed the Chickasaw National Recreation Area due to the rising lake level and the destruction of a pedestrian bridge. Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas joined Oklahoma under flood watches late on April 27.
The severe weather near Lincoln, Nebraska, caused the building housing seventy workers to collapse. All people were evacuated, with three non-severe injuries occurring.
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