Severe storms battered parts of the Midwest on Tuesday, unleashing a curtain of heavy rain, gusty winds and tornadoes across the region a day after a deadly tornado ravaged a small Oklahoma town and killed at least one person.
Tornadoes were spotted after dark Tuesday in southwest Michigan, northern Indiana and northwest Ohio.
Forecasters warn that storms could extend late into the night as parts of the Tri-State were under tornado watch.
The powerful storms come amid a wave of severe weather across the world, which includes some of the worst flooding on record in Brazil and a brutal heatwave in Asia.
The Storm Prediction Center cited 17 reports of tornadoes that occurred between Monday evening and Tuesday morning in the central United States.
Eight of the tornadoes occurred in Oklahoma and at least one tornado was spotted in Kansas, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Tennessee.
The deadly tornado that struck Oklahoma Monday evening ravaged the town of Barnsdall, population 1,000, about a 40-minute drive north of Tulsa.
The National Weather Service had warned Monday evening that “a large and potentially deadly tornado” was headed toward Barnsdall and the neighboring town of Bartlesville.
This was the second tornado to hit Barnsdall in five weeks: an April 1 tornado with peak wind speeds of 90 to 100 mph (145 to 161 km/h) damaged homes and brought down trees and electricity poles in Barnsdall.
The city’s mayor, Johnny Kelley, said one person had died and one man was missing.
Authorities launched a secondary search Tuesday morning for the missing man.
“The hardest thing for me as mayor is that this is a small community,” Kelley said.
“I know 75 to 80% of the residents of this city. »
At least 30 to 40 homes in the Barnsdall area were damaged Monday evening, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported.
Aerial videos showed several well-built homes reduced to piles of rubble and others with roofs torn off and damaged walls still standing.
The powerful tornado tossed vehicles, downed power lines and tore branches and bark from trees across the city. A 160-acre wax manufacturing plant in the community also suffered heavy damage.
First responders rescued about 25 people, including children, from badly damaged homes where buildings had collapsed on or around them, Kelley said.
Half a dozen people were injured, he said.
Barnsdall Nursing Home said it evacuated residents because a gas leak could not be stopped due to storm damage.
It was later posted online that all residents were found unharmed and were being taken to other facilities.
Gov. Kevin Stitt, who assessed the tornado’s damage Tuesday, said meteorologists called it a violent tornado with winds reaching 200 mph.
Stitt said he and legislative leaders agreed to set aside $45 million in this year’s budget to help communities damaged by the storm.
“Oklahomans are resilient,” Stitt said, “and we will rebuild.”
At the Hampton Inn in Bartlesville, several shattered 2x4s were driven into the south side of the building.
Pieces of insulation, twisted metal and other debris were strewn across the hotel’s lawn, and vehicles in the parking lot were heavily damaged with broken windows.
Matthew Macedo, 30, who was staying at the hotel, said he was taken to the hotel’s laundry room to wait out the storm.
“When the impact happened, it was incredibly sudden,” he said.
The storms ravaged Oklahoma as areas including Sulfur and Holdenville were still recovering from a tornado that killed four people and left thousands without power late last month.
The Plains and Midwest have been hit by tornadoes this spring.
Oklahoma and Kansas were under a high-risk weather warning Monday.
The last time such a warning was issued was March 31, 2023, when a massive storm system ravaged parts of the South and Midwest, including Arkansas, Illinois and rural Indiana .
The whole week promises to be stormy in the United States.
The eastern United States and the South are expected to be most affected by severe weather during the rest of the week, including Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis and Cincinnati, cities home to more than 21 million people. .
This should be clear this weekend.
New York Post
