Twisters wreak havoc in Oklahoma leaving 12 injured, hundreds with out energy

A string of uncommon February tornadoes roared via central Oklahoma, knocking out energy to hundreds of consumers and injuring a dozen folks.

Chicago,UPDATED: Feb 28, 2023 10:08 IST

Cars that have been hit by a twister lay in a pile in a broken neighborhood in Norman, Oklahoma. (Image: Reuters)

By Reuters: Crews in central Oklahoma on Monday have been assessing the harm and clearing particles left behind by a string of uncommon February tornadoes that roared via the realm in a single day, knocking out energy to hundreds of consumers and injuring a dozen folks.

In Norman, 12 folks have been taken to the hospital after struggling minor accidents within the storms that rolled via and close to town at round 11 p.m. native time on Sunday. None of the accidents have been life-threatening, Norman Chief of Police Kevin Foster mentioned throughout a information convention on Monday.

A view of a twister in Sublette, Kansas. (Image: Reuters)

The tornado was one among seven that touched down in Oklahoma and two extra have been reported in Kansas in a single day, the National Weather Service mentioned.

Several properties, companies and faculties in Norman, which has about 128,000 residents, have been broken within the storms, he mentioned.

Some 13,000 properties and companies have been with out energy throughout Oklahoma, Poweroutage.us reported.

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Video footage and images of the destruction on native information and social media confirmed energy traces mendacity in the midst of roadways, particles strewn throughout neighborhoods and roofs ripped off buildings. One picture confirmed a purple sedan flipped over and resting on high of one other automobile.

“A lot of real strong wind,” George Reich, a house owner in Shawnee, a city east of Oklahoma City, informed an ABC affiliate. “Wood and debris started flying. I jumped in the backseat of a car in the garage real quick.”

Experts say the rising frequency and depth of such storms, interspersed with excessive warmth and dry spells, are signs of local weather change.

“It was pretty rare, historic in the amount” of wind shear, mentioned Bruce Thoren, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Norman, relating to the Oklahoma twisters, noting that the state has seen solely 51 tornadoes in February since 1950.

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Four extra twisters have been reported in Illinois on Monday morning however none precipitated important harm, based on on-line reviews by the National Weather Service.

By Monday afternoon, the service had issued a number of extra twister advisories for components of Indiana, the place they warned of robust storms and damaging winds all through the day.

“TAKE COVER NOW! Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building,” the climate service mentioned in a single twister warning for the Indianapolis space on Monday afternoon.

The tough climate comes after days of a winter storm clobbered the U.S. Plains, Midwest and Great Lakes areas. More than 155,000 properties and companies in Michigan remained with out energy on Monday, Poweroutage.us reported.

Parts of California spent the weekend coping with heavy snows in greater elevations, rain and hail within the flatlands and frigid temperatures in components of the state which are identified of its delicate climate.

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Published On:

Feb 28, 2023