2 dead after strong storms move through central US, thousands without power

At least two people were dead after a string of severe weather, including tornadoes and hail, moved through the central U.S., leaving tens of thousands of customers without power on Thursday morning.

Multiple tornadoes hit parts of central Oklahoma, killing at least two people in Cole, a small town in the center of the state, authorities said. While injuries were reported, it was unclear the extent and the severity of them as search efforts got underway.

The McClain County Sheriff’s Office, where Cole is, said late Wednesday night it was conducting a grid search in a 10-mile path and confirmed at least two deaths and said crews were responding to reports of injuries and people trapped in their homes.

The sheriff’s office also said the Red Cross was on the scene and set up a shelter and reunification area at a local high school.

More than 19,000 customers in Oklahoma were without power as of Thursday morning, according to the grid tracker poweroutage.us. Kansas and Missouri also had thousands of customers without power.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued tornado watches for multiple states on Wednesday night, including parts of northern Texas, central Oklahoma, northeast Kansas and parts of Iowa. 

The storms in the central part of the U.S. on Wednesday follow a string of severe weather in recent weeks that has wreaked havoc on different parts of the country. Tornadoes in Mississippi that ravaged the state at the end of last month left at least 26 people dead and caused damage that is nearing $100 million, according to the state. 

Tornadoes that spanned from Arkansas to the east coast earlier this month left at least 32 people dead, hitting states like Illinois and Delaware.