Over 14 Killed in US Midwest Tornadoes

Tornadoes killed at least 14 people in the US Midwest, including two children, as flooding hampered cleanup efforts in Oklahoma, still recovering from a monster twister that struck last month.
Friday night's storms battered areas in and around Oklahoma City with high winds, heavy rain and hail.

The Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office announced nine fatalities in the state and said five of the victims have not been identified, while the sheriffs' offices in towns east of Oklahoma City confirmed two other people had died.

In Missouri, authorities said three people died from severe flooding in the wake of the storms.

Streets turned into rivers, with stranded cars submerged in water as high as their door handles in some places. the CNN said that a massive sink hole off a major road developed due to the deluge, halting traffic.

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, said the first tornado developed around the city of El Reno before moving into parts of Oklahoma City, spawning others. Local broadcaster KOCO reported that 77 people had been admitted to hospitals with storm-related injuries. 
The National Weather Service warned that the severe weather was shifting eastward, with the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys set to receive the bulk of impending storms.

Friday's twisters were far less damaging than the tornado that hit the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore nearly two weeks ago. That massive funnel cloud left 24 dead in its wake and demolished large swathes of the town with winds above 200 miles (322 kilometres) per hour.

In total, some 33,000 people were affected. The United States is hit by an average of 1,200 tornadoes each year.

They are particularly prominent in the Great Plains states of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Saturday also marked the official start of the US hurricane season, which some forecasters say will bring more extreme weather from the Atlantic, triggered by warmer than usual water temperatures.

 

Source: BNA