Second strike: Several tornados sweep Oklahoma
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Second strike: Several tornados sweep Oklahoma

RT, photo: Reuters / Bill Waugh/ vnews.rs   | 01.06.2013.
Second strike: Several tornados sweep Oklahoma


Multiple twisters have ripped through Oklahoma City and metropolitan area during rush hour on Friday evening, killing nine people, including 2 children. One tornado repeated the route of the Moore twister which killed 23 just 12 days ago.

The Oklahoma office
 of the Chief Medical Examiner said that 7 adults and 2 children are confirmed dead, including a mother and her child.  


Five of the deceased met the fate in their cars. Among the victims were a mother and a baby, found near a car on Interstate 40 west of Oklahoma City. Reportedly, the tornado threw them out of their vehicle.

The number of hospitalized exceeds 50, with five of them in a critical condition, hospital officials report, while the number of injured is growing.

 

Tornado debris and downed power lines are seen at Interstate-40 Westbound as traffic slowly passes in the opposite direction of Interstate-40, just east of El Reno, Oklahoma May 31, 2013.(Reuters / Bill Waugh)
Tornado debris and downed power lines are seen at Interstate-40 Westbound as traffic slowly passes in the opposite direction of Interstate-40, just east of El Reno, Oklahoma May 31, 2013.(Reuters / Bill Waugh)


“The damage is very, very widespread,” said Lara O'Leary, a spokeswoman for the local ambulance agency.

Overall up to five tornadoes formed in Oklahoma on Friday, some of them reaching speed of 130 km/h.

 

One tornado went along highway I-35, where stopped rush hour traffic resembled a “parking lot,” according to a KWTV reporter. At least six semi-trailer trucks were overturned. 

 

 

A semi tractor-trailer is seen damaged along Interstate-40 Westbound after a tornado hit the area just east of El Reno, Oklahoma May 31, 2013.(Reuters / Bill Waugh)
A semi tractor-trailer is seen damaged along Interstate-40 Westbound after a tornado hit the area just east of El Reno, Oklahoma May 31, 2013.(Reuters / Bill Waugh)


Another one traveled the same route as the devastating funnel that ravaged Moore on May 20, killing 24. But this tornado luckily became only a pale shade of the one that devastated the area with the 320 km/h peak gusts last week.

One more smaller tornado, according to KFOR, has been reported in Del City, where local authorities turned town's city hall into a public shelter.

In the neighboring St. Louis area, a tornado ripped off the roof of a suburban casino.

CCTV cameras in the city recorded debris falling from the sky. Residents told KFOR that “baseball-sized hail” was raining down on Oklahoma City and the surrounding area.

 

A home, damaged by a tornado, is seen south along Interstate-40 eastbound just east of El Reno, Oklahoma May 31, 2013.(Reuters / Bill Waugh)
A home, damaged by a tornado, is seen south along Interstate-40 eastbound just east of El Reno, Oklahoma May 31, 2013.(Reuters / Bill Waugh)

 

 

Highway Patrol Troopers continue to scour the country for victims. 

 

 

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Troopers look at a flipped SUV, which was blown off of Interstate-40 eastbound by a tornado, just east of El Reno, Oklahoma May 31, 2013.(Reuters / Bill Waugh)
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Troopers look at a flipped SUV, which was blown off of Interstate-40 eastbound by a tornado, just east of El Reno, Oklahoma May 31, 2013.(Reuters / Bill Waugh)


All inbound and outbound flights at Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport were canceled; over 1,000 passengers were directed into underground tunnels for shelter.

Heavy rain caused low visibility and made floodwaters going up over one meter, hampering the rescue operation in Oklahoma City and the state suffered widespread flooding.

According to ABC News 100,000 people were left without electricity, at least 65,000 of them in the Oklahoma City area.

 

Cloud to ground lightning strikes near storm chasers during a tornadic thunderstorm in Cushing May 31, 2013. (Reuters / Gene Blevins)
Cloud to ground lightning strikes near storm chasers during a tornadic thunderstorm in Cushing May 31, 2013. (Reuters / Gene Blevins)


Every year an average of 1,200 tornadoes go through the Midwest US region known as Tornado Alley, most of them are relatively small.

 

A pickup passes by tornado debris in the Westbound lane of Interstate-40, just east of El Reno, Oklahoma May 31, 2013.(Reuters / Bill Waugh)
A pickup passes by tornado debris in the Westbound lane of Interstate-40, just east of El Reno, Oklahoma May 31, 2013.(Reuters / Bill Waugh)

 



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