SEMINOL, Oklahoma (AP) – A stormy system has caused several tornadoes that have swept through Texas and Oklahoma, damaging a school, marijuana farm and other structures.
No serious injuries were reported after Wednesday’s tornado, but the system caused flooding in parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas, with more severe weather occurring on Thursday.
Significant damage was reported in the city of Seminole in Oklahoma, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southeast of Oklahoma City, where Gov. Kevin Steet said damage was being assessed after he toured the area on Thursday.
“(We) get all the resources and supplies the city wants and needs,” including generators, Steet said. “Thank God no one was hurt” and no deaths were reported.
The National Weather Service said it had found damage in Seminole by the EF2 tornado, which has wind speeds of up to 135 miles per hour (217 km / h).
More than 2,900 customers were left without electricity in Seminole late Thursday afternoon, according to Oklahoma Gas & Electric, more than 63% of the city’s utility users.
The Seminole Academy received a direct hit, but no one was injured, the school said on Facebook.
A video from KOCO television station in Oklahoma shows a tornado hit a marijuana farm in the nearby town of Maud.
Several roads and highways were closed Thursday morning in parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas due to flash floods.
In Bixby, Oklahoma, south of Tulsa, officials opened a temporary church shelter after thunderstorms flooded some neighborhoods and streets.
A East Texas tornado on Thursday damaged several campers and buildings in an RV park in Rusk County, Sheriff Johnway Valdes told KTRE-TV. Rusk County Emergency Management Service said one person was injured after being hit by a tree.
A “big and dangerous tornado” was spotted in Lockett’s rural community about 170 miles (275 kilometers) northwest of Dallas on Wednesday, the National Meteorological Service’s Norman, Oklahoma office said.
The Meteorological Service said it had found damage near Locket by tornado EF3, which has a wind speed of up to 265 km / h.
There were no significant injuries or deaths to residents of Wilbarger County, where Lockett is located, Sheriff Brian Fritze told KAUZ-TV. He said several houses and barns appear to have suffered significant damage.
In Washington County, northwest Arkansas, officials have carried out more than 30 water rescues as heavy rains flooded homes and streets in the cities of Fayetteville and Johnson, KHBS / KHOG-TV reported.
The storms on Wednesday and Thursday were the last of several rounds of hard weather in the central United States. Last week, a tornado damaged more than 1,000 buildings on the Wichita suburb of Andover, Kansas. Three students of meteorology from the University of Oklahoma died in a car accident while returning from a storm chase.
Storms moving east to other South American states could bring more tornadoes, hail and destructive winds, and the threat of severe weather will continue on Friday in parts of the south and over the weekend in the central plains and Midwest, the weather said. service.
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