Severe storms and reported tornadoes swept across Oklahoma early Sunday, causing injuries and widespread power outages, according to authorities.
A destructive path of severe weather included damage in the Oklahoma City area, where at least six people were transported to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, Oklahoma City Police Department Capt. Valerie Littlejohn said.
The damage included downed power lines, gas lines, trees and traffic signals and signs, Littlejohn said. Local television reports showed flipped cars, downed trees and power lines and damaged homes. Flooding shut down part of an interstate highway in the area, and at least one home was damaged by a tornado near Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, CBS News affiliate KWTV reported.
Nearly 95,000 customers were without power in the state, according to PowerOutage.us.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch on Sunday morning for parts of Oklahoma and Texas, which was set to expire at 9 a.m. Central time. A social media post by the agency’s office in Norman, Oklahoma, shortly before 1:30 a.m. reported a severe thunderstorm with a tornado moving through eastern Oklahoma City toward Midwest City and Tinker Air Force Base.
The post warned, “If you’re in the path of this storm, take cover immediately!”
