Oklahoma storms… Injury to 11 people and power outage in homes

Severe storms and tornadoes struck the U.S. state of Oklahoma on Sunday, toppling cars, ripping roofs off buildings, and leaving tens of thousands of homes and businesses without electricity. The authorities said that among the many injuries, 11 people were taken to hospitals for treatment.

Most of the damage is concentrated in the state capital, Oklahoma City, and its surroundings near the center of the state, although reports of damage have come in from various areas across the state. The early morning storms triggered tornado warnings extending south to the borders of Arkansas.

Heavy rains caused flooding in some areas, and a fire was reported in one of the houses due to lightning.

Power was cut off to more than 99,000 homes and businesses in Oklahoma during the nighttime storms. By midday Sunday, this number had dropped to less than 34,000. No deaths have been reported until noon.

Richard Thompson, head of the forecasting department at the Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service in Oklahoma, said he believes that 6 or more tornadoes hit the state overnight.

Meanwhile, meteorologists have urged state residents to prepare for the possibility of more heavy rain and severe weather until Monday. Thompson added, “We are not done yet.”

A tornado warning had been issued for most of central and southeastern Oklahoma, effective until 8 PM local time on Sunday. There were other areas under warnings for thunderstorms or floods.