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Subscribe to RSSThe National Weather Service warns that fast-moving, life-threatening tornadoes will potentially touch down after dark. The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore, Mike Seidel and Eric Fisher report.
Updated at 7:06 a.m. Sunday ET: At least five people have been killed in Oklahoma and a disaster emergency has been declared in Kansas after a severe storm system moving through the Midwest spawned a number of strong tornadoes.
Oklahoma Dept. of Emergency Management information officer Keli Cain confirmed there were five deaths in the Woodward area of north-west Oklahoma.
At least 29 people were injured across Oklahoma and neighbouring states.
Two of the dead are children, according to NBC News affiliate in Oklahoma, KFOR.
In Kansas, governor Sam Brownback issued a declaration of disaster emergency to help speed relief to areas affected by the storms. "We are continuing to assess all the damages across the state," said Brownback, "and signing this declaration clears the way for making state aid available to those counties that need help with clean-up and recovery."
Dozens of tornadoes were reported Saturday as baseball-size hail shattered windows and tore the siding off homes in northeast Nebraska and one twister damaged a hospital in Creston, Iowa. Several homes were wrecked in Kansas.
NBC News reported there were 112 recorded tornadoes in Kansas, Nebraska, Indiana and Oklahoma.
Forecasters had warned of "life-threatening" storms in the nation's midsection. No serious injuries from Saturday were immediately reported.
A tornado was reported on the ground near Wichita, Kan., late Saturday and power in the city was going out, NBC station KSN reported. Homes were reported damaged on the city's south side, but details were not immediately available.
Slideshow: Tornadoes rake Midwest
KSN also reported that one building at airplane-maker Spirit Aerosystem collapsed in the storm. At the Wichita airport, winds gusting to 84 mph blew open hangars and overturned luggage carts, The Weather Channel reported. McConnell Air Force Base, which relocated aircraft to other bases before the storms moved in, reported hangar and housing damage, KSN said.
The National Weather Service office in Wichita temporarily turned over operations to the Topeka office Saturday as storms threatened to destroy its building.
A tornado was spotted in Langley, Kan., earlier Saturday evening.
Orlin Wagner / AP
A tornado moves on the ground north of Soloman, Kan., Saturday, April 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
One tornado narrowly missing Salina after being on the ground for about 30 miles.
Three farmsteads sustained damage in Rush County, Kan. and a home was destroyed near Langley, NBC News reported. Trees were downed and power lines were down for other rural customers.
One tornado damaged the roof and blew out windows at the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston, Iowa, but no injuries were reported, officials said. Power was out in much of the city of 7,600 population about 75 miles southwest of Des Moines.
Fremont County, Iowa, Emergency Management Director Mike Crecelius told The Associated Press about 75 percent of the town of Thurman was destroyed. He said there were no injuries and no deaths in the town of about 250 people. Crecelius said the town was on lockdown and some residents took refuge in City Hall, which still had power. Officials and residents expect to start cleaning up Sunday.
Stormchasers early Sunday reported major damage from a significant tornado in Woodward, Okla. Significant sructural damage and possible injuries were reported, The Weather Channel reported.
An apparent tornado took down barns, outbuildings and large trees in southeast Nebraska, and Johnson County emergency director Clint Strayhorn said he was still trying to determine how long the twister was on the ground and how much damage it did.
"I'm on a 2-mile stretch that this thing is on the ground and I haven't even gotten to the end of it yet," he said as he walked the path of destruction near the Johnson-Nemaha county line. He described a line of downed trees and a barn that was destroyed. He didn't immediately know of any injuries.
“What is now under way is potentially a very serious situation,” Bill Bunting, chief of operations for the Storm Prediction Center said earlier Saturday. Officials warned that other areas at risk were parts of Illinois, Missouri and Texas.
The last time the National Weather Service issued such a high-risk warning was last April, Bunting said.
Comments from the targeted region started to stream onto msnbc.com’s Facebook page Saturday evening. Their comments and their Facebook IDs:
"Oklahoma is get'n shaken up jus a bit. If they weren't ALL Around. I woulda left state! But gonna pray & ride it out here in Okie.” -- Kimberly Dawn.
“Partly cloudy and very windy in S.E. Kansas with potential for severe storms after 10 pm. You pray and keep your eyes on the weather reports.” -- Valori Richardson
“I'm east of Wichita, KS. Very muggy here. Very windy. Waiting for the storms to pop here. The local weather people are warning everyone to be prepared to take shelter even into the overnight hours. This is the real deal.” -- Diane Lowery.
Nebraska canceled its spring scrimmage football game as heavy rain, hail and lightning moved through the area an hour and a half before kickoff, The Associated Press reported. Records show the spring game has been played every year since at least 1950. In northeast Nebraska, baseball-sized hail rained down, Bunting said.
The Weather Channel's Dr. Greg Forbes takes a look at the night's forecast.
He advised the nearly 5 million residents who live in the high-risk area to listen to their NOAA weather radio, a nationwide network of radio stations that broadcast from the National Weather Service.
He expects fast-moving tornadoes to touch down after dark, a dangerous time as people may not be able to see the warning signs. The storm threat continues Sunday, he said, as storms move east through Texas, Arkansas and into the Great Lakes region and Wisconsin.
Local officials should notify residents via outdoor sirens, phone calls and social media, Bunting said.
Tornado sirens already sounded across Oklahoma City hours before dawn on Saturday. Department of Emergency Management official Michelann Ooten said one of the possible tornadoes was spotted near Piedmont, a small town near Oklahoma City where a twister killed several people last May.
Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Brown told The Associated Press that the storms Saturday morning were fairly weak but still damaged some homes.
A tornado that touched down Friday afternoon sent 10 people to the hospital with "bumps and bruises" and ripped through southwest Norman, ripping up telephone poles, shredding trees and ripping off rooftops, according to the Oklahoman. The AP reported that 100 people were staying at a Red Cross shelter that had been established.
The Weather Channel's Eric Fisher reports on the latest in Oklahoma City.
On Friday, Norman, Okla., home to the University of Oklahoma campus, got a preview of the potential destruction when a twister whizzed by the nation's tornado forecasting headquarters but caused little damage.
The Storm Prediction Center, which is part of the National Weather Service, gave the sobering warning that the outbreak could be a "high-end, life-threatening event."
Historic warning
Director Russ Schneider said it was just the second time in U.S. history that the center issued a high-risk warning more than 24 hours in advance. The first was in April 2006, when nearly 100 tornadoes tore across the southeastern U.S., killing a dozen people and damaging more than 1,000 homes in Tennessee.
It's possible to issue earlier warnings because improvements in storm modeling and technology are letting forecasters predict storms earlier and with greater confidence, said Chris Vaccaro, a spokesman for the National Weather Service. In the past, people often have had only minutes of warning when a siren went off.
The strongly worded message came after the National Weather Service announced last month that it would start using terms like "mass devastation," "unsurvivable" and "catastrophic" in warnings in an effort to get more people to take heed.
This article includes reporting by The Weather Channel and The Associated Press.
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Leave a Comment:
Severe storms tear "though" Oklahoma? I think it is spelled "thRough" How professional
youse spelling cops are a royal pain.Aggeravate yourselves into misery.
Friken idiots people are in danger an ure concerned about spellin, learn 2 tweet.
This is going to be a long and bumpy night. We are just recovering from the storm on Good Friday. But from all thats been told to me tornadoes don't hit the same areas twice. Not sure how they confirm that but got my fingers crossed.
God must be mad about gay marriage in NY and is taking it out on the midwest again!!!!!
Hey republicans...still think we don't need a national weather warning center? Kind of like you don't think we need the EPA (think the Gulf oil spill and pollution in Ohio). Keep pushing to defund these things or as your leader Canto says, only offer financial assistance if something else is cut from the budget. My sympathies go out to the people affected by these storms - and to the voters in republican districts, consider voting democratic in the next election, the lives you save might just be your own and your families.
Uh, no Republicans have ever said anything about cutting weather centers and such.
Excuse Wally his heads been in the sand for quite some time
gettin' a little tired of hearing about the Tornados....this is all the Midwest seems to be known for--"Tornado and Hail season".
"Hello?...rest of the country?" Is there ANY other news to report on?
"Headlines for our 6:30 newscast.....Dorothy bravely clicked her heels together and went home to Kansas,confident in the words..."there's no place like home"....hail and gusts up to 60 mph followed our young storm catcher as she and her companion Toto caught the 2 pm windstorm to Topeka. We'll follow Dorothy's story,starting with Richard Engal, at ground zero in Omaha"
Sick of it. Every year..lol...at this time,seems like we hear the same old retoric. "Tornado knocks down a barn,pictures at 11".
Well, we have kind of had enough of the "pink slime" debate, the war on women, the Martin case, the increase in Autism rates, the cancer industry, the GOP race, etc. It is that time of year to debate the global warming, from a first person standpoint, and to make a bet if the Kentucky Derby will have another wreck on national television, AGAIN! If Dorothy had only brought the Scarecrow back with her, with his superior intelligence, from Whatsamatta U. then we would be able to find out the truth and solve all of these issues!
@ capaleen:
If you are tired of hearing about tornadoes why don't you just move on to something else. You must know you don't have to comment.
I want to hear about the storms. I have family in three of those "tornado alley" states.
@capaleen
I'm sure the families of the five killed in Woodward OK tonight will be thrilled to see it all so quickly and easily downplayed by people like you. This kind of thing is serious to the people that live in Oklahoma.
we opened up a can of haarp wupas on Argentina at the behest of England.This looks like payback, James Brown style.
For the love of God, it's the Great Plains, not the Midwest!!!
Thank you!!!
I'm not judging but I am commenting. Why do these disasters always seem to occur in the parts of the USA that are the most judgmental of others. It's not the west they consider to be the Sodom and Gomorrahs of the USA or the East Coast but the midwest and Bible belt areas that seem to be hit by this "God" that doesn't approve? You would think these would be God's "safe zones" Hmmmm.
The bible belt people are not doing GOD'S will. Read the Old Testament and know what HE (GOD) did to Israel when they misbehaved.
Yeah, he was a real prick.
If he tried that crap today there would be an international manhunt and a $25 million bounty on his miserable ass. It's a good thing for him that he's dead now.
Thank you Klone!!!
;-)
@Ed:
@Klone:
After you are dead you will know that GOD is not dead. Your loss.
Well then, if he's not dead he's a god damned coward, hiding in the shadows like a rat.
But really, after I'm dead I'll be dead. Just like god. And if he can somehow bring us back to life and work up the nerve to face me I'll kick his ass back to Babylon.
@ Klone:
Where you are going, you will be in no position to kick anybody. Again, your loss, unless you repent.
Stay safe everyone who is in the path of these storms. You are in our thoughts and prayers!
Stay safe, everyone! Kind of got a chuckle out of the comment about being tired of hearing about the storms in the Midwest/Great Plains. Ever watched the news during and after a hurricane because they get a good share of coverage, too.
Besides, you're reading a story about the Midwestern storms and reading the comments on them. Hello???? What kind of story and comments did you expect to be reading when you clicked on the headline?
Remember the Republicans want to close the weather stations that give out early warning signs, They want you to pick your selves up by the bootstraps because big bad ol Gubment, Throw everyone of those Teapublicans out of office before we become a third world country
It's amazing how non-believers in Jesus Christ will pick a few words that they "think" come from the Bible to suit their own selfish use,when,in reality,they are taking the words completely out of context.
What
I consist of many thoughts from the Bible
@ sutraquio:
The non-believers you speak of are the people who are bringing this country to its knees. I will rattle a lot of cages with this post.
Us non-believers don't give a crap about the bible or what's written in it.
It's all superstitious nonsense.
some day I ll ride the wind it d be like surfing and sky diving all in one
Where are these places, where the wind does who knows?
Live in Norfolk, Neb. We got slammed with a huge hailstorm shortly after noon. Consider myself lucky, but there is a whopper cell 100 miles to the SW of us. Keeping the NOAA radio on and keeping my fingers crossed.
When I look at the state's weather map we have Severe T-Storms, Tornado watches, Tornado Warnings, and Winter Weather Advisories all in the borders....
And do we really have to drag political and religious rubbish into this?
The reality is that the world is changing and the weather patterns have become more intense, whether its because of global warming or just plain bad luck. Im glad that president Obama had the forsight to build over a hundred fema camps throughout the country for just such a catastrophy. Lets see now if they have the ability to utilze them in a way that keeps americans safe unlike during the aftermath of hurricane katrina. by no way am i comparing the losses to katrina to now but this is the 1st disaster since the creation of these Fema camps so lets see our government put them to use for the reason they were created. God bless and prayers to all the people in the midwest.
My prayers are with everyone that live within these four states that are being affected by these Tornadoes. God help everyone. there is just too many eartly disasters.
Thank goodness no one was hurt, I hope everyone is ok and hangs in there if more storms/tornado's occur. Best of wishes!
What i dont understand is why under this circumstances msn needs to run advertising in videos. Yes i know making money in good but give me a F.U.C.K.I.N.G- break peaple are hurting and we need to be informed, but who cares about a tooth paste or sampoo under this circumstances. IF U AGREE WITH ME tell MSN we need this info but keep advertising out of breaking news!!!!!
My sympathy and prayers for those affected by the storms. And my wish that all the wing nut climate change denyers could be made to paid for this devastation that they have helped create.
I'm happy there are no deaths reported. I hope it stays that way.
We are so lucky this time.
What I see, what is bad at MSNBC, I live IN OK city have family in Kansas, I should not have to sit through 2-3mins of commercials during severe weather to check on love ones, Only went here because Google brought me to this crap place.
I dont know if this is due to global warming or the biblical end of times but one cannot deny that weather patterns have both changed and intensified compared to the the records kept over the last hundred years or so. Im just glad that our president barak obama had the forsight to plan and prepare for such events by having over a hundred fema camps created within the united states for just such a catastrophy. When NDAA passed and soon after he granted money to fema to construct these camps in every state in the country for just such emergencys i wondered if they would be used in a manner that would reduce loss of life unlike during hurricane katrina. though this as any national disaster is terrible i look forward to seeing the fruits of our leaders labor and see how these "camps" will be utilized. God bless all the people in the midwest an god bless america!
"God must be mad about gay marriage in NY" --- Its Jesus taking out the Anti-Christ, one notch at a time.
i likes to chasee me sum tornadoesss
New American English comes of age