Five people are reported to have been killed in the US state of Oklahoma after several tornadoes ripped through the Southern Plains region.
Hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed and some highways were shut down because of wrecked cars and trucks.
At least four storms produced six or more tornadoes in the Oklahoma City area alone, said Mike Foster, meteorologist in charge with the National Weather Service, Norman Forecast Office. In addition, there were tornadoes from border to border, with some near the Kansas line and some near the Red River. Foster said he did not know the total Monday night.Hail as large as 4 inches in diameter fell in parts of the state. Foster said there is a slight risk of thunderstorms today and the possibility of another round of strong thunderstorms Wednesday. [ BBC ] - [ NEWSOK ]
The storms weren’t unexpected, and meteorologists had been sounding the warning since last week.
"On Monday afternoon a strong jet stream extended from the Pacific northwest across southern California into the southern Plains,” Foster said. "An intense upper level storm in the jet stream was over the Texas Panhandle.
"This storm developed a surface low pressure system over northwest Oklahoma with a warm front across central Oklahoma and a dry line across western Oklahoma. Storms formed along the dry line by midafternoon and became tornadoes as they approached and crossed the warm front late in the afternoon.”
Water limits requested
After storms damaged facilities on two Oklahoma lakes, two city utility crews are asking residents to ration water. Oklahoma City Manager Jim Couch said the city has issued an outside watering ban for 48 hours after equipment at the Lake Stanley Draper treatment facility was damaged.
"The Lake Draper Water Treatment Facility provides about half the water for Oklahoma City and some of the suburbs that we provide water to,” Couch said.
OG&E has made the Lake Draper Treatment Plant a priority, Couch said.
Storm damage also led to a similar proposal in Norman. Ken Comisky, utility manager in Norman, said Oklahoma City provided backup to Norman in case the facilities at Lake Thunderbird were damaged. The storm damaged equipment at those facilities as well, which led Norman to ask residents to conserve water. Norman residents may experience a decrease in water pressure.
