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3 tornadoes cause injuries, damage in Oklahoma
2009-02-10
OKLAHOMA CITY - At least three tornadoes struck Oklahoma on Tuesday, leaving trails of damage and knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses. In the evening, a tornado meteorologists described as large and violent caused "extensive" property damage and several injuries in the south-central town of Lone Grove. "Basically, all we have, it is pretty bad," said Chester Agan, assistant emergency manager for Carter County. Officials throughout the county were trying to get ambulances and other first responders into Lone Grove, said Amber Wilson, the emergency management director for nearby Ardmore. Some mobile homes were destroyed at a trailer park in Lone Grove, but no injuries occurred there, Agan said. In the afternoon, a tornado damaged businesses in Oklahoma City and homes and businesses in the northern suburb of Edmond. At an Edmond business park, a body shop and the vehicles inside had been turned into a twisted ball of metal. Shop manager Michael Jerry said he went home to eat and watch the weather reports as the storm moved into the area. "It's just surreal," Jerry said. "You just don't believe it. Especially knowing you were just there minutes before. The steel girders are in a ball." In northwest Oklahoma City, one wall of a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant collapsed, windows were blown out, and a piece of its awning was thrown into a tree. Signs were stripped and cars were damaged in the parking lot. At the nearby Boulder Ridge Apartments, a large section of roof was blown off one building and part of a wall was blown off another. Parked cars were shifted by the wind and smashed into each other. In between downpours of rain, residents wandered out to snap pictures of the wreckage with their cell phones. Neighbors helped clear plywood that blocked in cars in the parking lot. "My kids are still in the closet and won't come out," said Traci Keil, 37, as a third wave of rain approached the apartment complex, more than an hour after the twister hit. Residents scattered back to their apartments when shouts that more storms were on their way, and drenching rains soon arrived again. Oklahoma Gas and Electric had 28,500 customers lost power, mostly in the Oklahoma City area, according to its Web site. Eighteen power poles were snapped. The Oklahoma County Election Board lost power on a night when votes were being tallied for a school board election. Lara O'Leary, a spokeswoman for the Emergency Management Services Authority, said three minor injuries were reported. "We're very hopeful residents were in their safe spots when this moved through," she said. National Weather Service meteorologist Rick Smith said one tornado touched down in the city about 3 p.m., moved toward Edmond and north into a rural area. The path covered several miles. Another tornado was reported in Pawnee County in north-central Oklahoma, damaging two mobile homes and two barns. Tornadoes are most numerous in Oklahoma in the spring, but can occur at any time, Smith said. Winds of more than 60 mph caused dust storms in western Texas that reduced visibility so much some roads have been closed, the National Weather Service said. Cody Lindsey, a meteorologist in Midland, said the winds were expected to last through early evening.
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