The state of Oklahoma is picking up the pieces after an onslaught of powerful tornadoes ripped apart homes, and businesses and claimed at least two lives, including an infant. As daylight revealed the full extent of the devastation on Sunday, rescue crews desperately searched for any survivors trapped in the rubble across multiple battered towns.
In the community of Holdenville, located about 75 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, officials confirmed two weather-related fatalities after a menacing twister carved a path of destruction. One of the victims was just a baby. Over a dozen homes in the area were either damaged or outright obliterated by the storm.
The town of Sulphur also saw buildings torn apart and injuries reported as a large, violent tornado tore through neighborhoods and commercial districts shortly before midnight.
About 60 miles north in Marietta, the Love County Sheriff’s Office described a tornado that left a long scar of wreckage across the rural community. A Dollar Tree distribution center, Homeland grocery store, and nursing home sustained major damage from it.
“There is heavy damage to our town and we have every responder out checking homes, businesses, etc.,” the sheriff’s office stated bluntly on Facebook, pleading with residents to avoid roads and allow emergency crews to work.
Tragically, a small number of nursing home residents were still trapped hours later as extensive search and rescue operations remained ongoing into Sunday morning. Interstate 35 was shut down in the area due to storms scattering downed power lines across the major highway.
In all, the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management reported damage in at least six counties across the southern and central regions of the state. Over 80,000 homes and businesses lost power, hampering overnight efforts to assess the full scope of the disaster.
Though the strongest tornadoes had moved out by sunrise, forecasters warned the threat was far from over for many living in the nation’s interior. Nearly 47 million people from Texas into the Midwest remained under the gun for potentially more intense twisters, destructive straight-line winds, large hail, and flash flooding throughout Sunday.