Multiple tornado warnings in the United States and their effect on southern Texaco, Oklahoma, and Choctaw County, Oklahoma
The US had been bracing for a sudden change in weather that was forecast to create the biggest tornado threat in five months.
In the southeast corner of the state, tornadoes hit hard. Cody McDaniel, the county’s emergency manager, confirmed one death although he didn’t immediately provide details.
The National Weather service storm prediction center shows that there were tornadoes formed in Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
The number of tornadoes recorded will likely increase Saturday, and the intensity of each one will not be known until local National Weather Service offices conduct damage surveys, which may take several days.
Lamar County is the home of Paris, where there has been a lot of damage and injuries.
A woman in Choctaw County, Oklahoma, was injured by a falling tree as she was trying to get to a storm shelter, Lewis Collins, a volunteer at the Choctaw Office of Emergency Management, told CNN. It’s unclear whether a tornado had occurred in that area.
There was a moderate risk of severe storms on Friday in eastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, southwestern Arkansas and northwestern Louisiana.
In Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri multiple tornado warnings were in effect Friday night, meaning that at least one tornado was reported to be on the ground. The weather service says to go to a safe like a basement or an interior room if you are in a warning area.
The Storm Prediction Center said tornadoes, large hail, and even golf ball-sized hail are possible.
The main threat will shift from tornadoes Friday afternoon and evening to damaging winds going into the overnight hours as thunderstorms align and spread into Arkansas and Louisiana.
The storm system will move quickly from the west to the east, avoiding the risk of flash flooding in the Ark-La-Tex region. Over an area from Kansas to Wisconsin, four to six inches of rain is expected through Saturday.
Rainfall is much needed in this region as recent drought has cause the Mississippi River to reach record low levels, impacting shipping and the supply chain.
While tornadoes in the US can happen in any month of the year, they are most common in the spring time thanks to the clash of cold and hot air as the seasons change. The same merging of temperatures also occurs in the autumn, which is why you will often see a secondary “severe season” later in the year.
It’s more difficult to warn residents of overnight tornadoes because they can be hard to see and move quickly, and the weather service doesn’t recommend looking at them during those hours.
Make sure you have a severe weather safety plan in place. Prepare yourself by knowing the location of your house and making sure your cell phones are fully charged in case you lose power.
Sheriff’s Office in Lamar County, Texas, declared a tornado disaster with at least 10 killed by tornadoes across the city of Wrightsville
The sheriff’s office in Texas said at least fifty homes had been damaged or destroyed in Lamar County.
Plus, more than 100,000 homes and businesses were without power across Arkansas, Louisiana, southeastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas as of early Saturday, according to Poweroutage.us.
The National Weather Service confirmed late Friday that a tornado moving 45 mph was detected over the city of Wrightsville in Pulaski County, Arkansas, just south of Little Rock.
Officials in Lamar County, Texas, declared a disaster after at least 10 people were injured when a tornado tore through the area, according to a news release from the county’s sheriff’s office. No deaths have been reported.
The two critically injured people were listed in the sheriff’s office. First responders were injured during the storms in the country and had surgery, according to Steven Hill.
“Search & rescue teams and generators forwarded to the Idabel area,” he sad. “Storms hit in Bryan, Choctaw, and Le Flore counties, among others. Some areas have additional flash flooding.
The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security is urging residents to report storm damage online to help coordinate their response.
The Dallas-Delaware tornado declared by McCurtain County Sheriff’s deputy, Brandon Bell, and the Dallas-Powderly fire department
Steven Carter, an emergency management coordinators for McCurtain County, told the Texarkana Gazette that there was “total destruction on the south and east sides of Idabel.”
The Disaster in the area was declared by the county’s highest elected official, Judge Brandon Bell. Bell’s declaration said at least two dozen people were injured across the county.
One community was hardest hit, it wasPowderly, which was about 45 miles west of Idabel and 120 miles northeast of Dallas. You can find both Powderly and Idabel near the Texas-Oklahoma border.
The Lamar County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management said the tornado traveled north-northwest through the communities of Powderly, Caviness, andBeaver Creek.
Randi Johnson, chief of the Powderly Volunteer Fire Department, told The Paris News that she was aware of injuries and that no one had been killed.