Police: 2 dead in Oklahoma flooding as region remains under severe weather watch
MOORE, Okla. (AP) — Two people, including a child, have died in Oklahoma flooding as meteorologists warned Sunday of further flooding, thunderstorms and tornadoes from the Midwest to the South.
Police in Moore, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Oklahoma City, received dozens of reports of “high-water incidents” over the weekend including two cars stranded in flood waters Saturday evening. One car was swept away under a bridge, and police said they were able to rescue some people, but a woman and 12-year-old boy were found dead.
“This was a historical weather event that impacted roads and resulted in dozens of high-water incidents across the city,” Moore police said in a statement Sunday. Moore has about 63,000 people.
The National Weather Service issued flooding and severe thunderstorm warnings in large swaths of Oklahoma as well as portions of Texas, Missouri, Arkansas and southern Illinois amid a storm system from the southern Plains to the Upper Midwest. Meteorologists predicted heavy rainfall and potential tornadoes in Arkansas and Missouri.
On Easter Sunday, communities were beginning to assess the damage wreaked by several confirmed tornadoes throughout south central and southeast Oklahoma, according to the National Weather Service. A few thousand customers were without power Sunday morning.
Bill Macon, Marshall County emergency management director, said their early assessments show a tornado “skipped and jumped around” over a path of six to seven miles (about 10 to 11 kilometers) in the rural area that left at least 20 homes damaged, some destroyed completely.
Macon said people were mostly home when the late night tornado came through, downing “huge” trees, dozens of electric poles and power lines, but there had not been reports of injuries or fatalities.
“We take those things pretty serious down here in Oklahoma,” Macon said of the NWS warnings.
One Oklahoma town — Ada, Oklahoma, home to about 16,000 people — that was still recovering from an early March tornado also saw one come through late Saturday.