Severe thunderstorms and high winds in the Great Plains region caused significant damage on Saturday night, leaving more than 50,000 electricity customers in Oklahoma and Texas without power. More than two dozen tornadoes were reported overnight, injuring residents and damaging homes. Over 13 million people from Texas to Illinois were under tornado watches, with the potential for more tornadoes in the coming hours. The weather system was expected to move east into the Mississippi Valley on Sunday, bringing heavy rains to Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
The severe weather conditions followed a day of tornadoes in Nebraska and Iowa, where dozens of homes were destroyed on Friday. Damage from the latest storms was primarily concentrated in Oklahoma, with tornadoes reported in cities such as Sulphur, Holdenville, and Ardmore. Injuries, downed power lines, flooded roads, and damaged homes were reported in several counties. Although the tornado threat had subsided in central Oklahoma by early Sunday morning, the eastern and southeastern parts of the state still faced a moderate risk until 5 a.m.
Nearly 30 tornadoes were reported across the region between Saturday afternoon and early Sunday, affecting areas in Kansas, Texas, and Missouri. The weather was described as complicated due to the large number of storms interacting with each other, creating multiple pockets of potential tornado activity. Ryan Jewell, a forecaster at the Weather Prediction Center, highlighted the challenging situation caused by the significant storm activity.
Tornadoes struck Nebraska and Iowa on Friday, injuring at least nine people and causing extensive damage. Winds of up to 165 m.p.h. battered the region, with dozens of homes destroyed and an industrial building collapsing. The Weather Service received over 100 reports of tornadoes in multiple states in the Great Plains. Gov. Jim Pillen of Nebraska described his visit to the hard-hit areas as “extraordinarily sobering.” In Minden, Iowa, an elder at Harvest Alliance Church, Phil Enke, described the church being leveled in the storms and the challenging process of salvaging important documents and photographs amidst the debris.
Overall, the recent severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in the Great Plains region caused widespread damage, injuring residents and leaving many without power. The affected states faced significant challenges in dealing with the aftermath of the storms, with reports of destroyed homes and infrastructure. The Weather Service continued to monitor the situation as the weather system moved eastward, bringing heavy rains to additional states. Residents in the impacted areas were left to clean up the debris and begin the process of recovery and rebuilding in the wake of the destructive weather events.
