Tornado Kills 1 in Oklahoma as Severe Weather Batters Central U.S.

Published May 6, 2024Updated May 7, 2024

• Follow our updated coverage of Tuesday's severe weather here.

Severe storms lashed the central United States early Tuesday, hours after a tornado in Oklahoma killed at least one person and destroyed parts of two communities.

At least 15 tornadoes were reported to have struck parts of the central United States by Monday night, seven of them in Oklahoma, according to the National Weather Service. More than eight million people across parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas were under tornado watches early Tuesday.

A tornado killed one person in the city of Barnsdall, Okla., on Monday night, said Sheriff Eddie Virden of Osage County, who added that the twister was up to two miles wide. Emergency responders were going door to door in the damaged areas early Tuesday to look for people who were injured, he said.

The tornado took out about a third of the small city, where it also injured multiple people who were hospitalized in about 20 ambulances, said Jerry Roberts, the emergency management director in Osage County. The tornado also lifted the roof off a nursing home in Barnsdall, said Steven Cobb, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Tulsa.

As the storm bore down, the National Weather Service issued a rare tornado emergency alert, which warns of catastrophic damage and severe threats to human life, for about 30 minutes in part of Osage County and Washington County in Oklahoma.

The tornado destroyed power lines along its path from Barnsdall to Bartlesville, leaving entire towns without electricity, Mr. Cobb said. Barnsdall was also hit by a tornado last month, but Monday's tornado appeared more powerful, estimated to be a 2 or higher on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which goes from 0 to 5, Mr. Cobb said.

In Bartlesville, city officials said that emergency responders had rescued trapped individuals in a Hampton Inn and were recovering downed power lines early Tuesday. They said minor injuries had been reported, without saying how many.

At about 12:15 a.m. local time, the Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Oklahoma City and the area east of it.

In Garfield County, Okla., severe weather on Monday destroyed some barns, felled trees and sent cars hydroplaning into ditches, but no one was injured, said Mike Honigsberg, the county's emergency management director.

The Weather Prediction Center warned of a slight risk of excessive rainfall over parts of the Central Plains and Middle Mississippi Valley from Monday into Tuesday morning. The heavy rain could produce flash flooding in urban areas, roads, small streams and low-lying areas.

More storms are forecast for the next couple of days, primarily on Wednesday, from Texas to Ohio.

Last month, more than two dozen tornadoes were reported and at least five people were killed in Oklahoma and Iowa, including an infant, the authorities said.

Livia Albeck-Ripka and Jesus Jiménez contributed reporting.

Johnny Diaz is a general assignment reporter covering breaking news. He previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel and The Boston Globe. More about Johnny Diaz