Tornado confirmed near Nowata as damage, power outages reported area-wide
By Staff Reports
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
5/01/12 at 11:22 AM
Strong storms moved through the area overnight, spawning at least one tornado and knocking out power to thousands.
A confirmed tornado damaged a Nowata County home just before 8 p.m. Monday near county roads 4060 and 2400, about 8 miles southwest of Nowata, the National Weather Service said.
The storm also produced several brief touchdowns about 8:10 p.m. about 5 miles west of Nowata, the Weather Service said.
The Weather Service planned to investigate the damage later Tuesday to determine the strength of the tornado, forecasters said.
In Craig County, a Welch woman had minor injuries after straight-line winds lifted the roof off her house, and winds in Ottawa County knocked down power lines and trees about a foot in diameter just southwest of Miami, authorities said.
A gust of 70 mph was reported near Wynona in Osage County and a gust of 62 was reported near Vinita in Craig County, the Weather Service said.
The Tulsa chapter of the American Red Cross reported that it was helping a family of three whose mobile home near Delaware in Nowata County was destroyed overnight and a family of eight whose home near Salina in Mayes County was struck by lightning.
Power outages were reported throughout the area.
In Tulsa County, about 2,900 AEP-PSO customers were without power at one point, but power was largely restored by 5 a.m., the company reported on its website.
About 200 AEP-PSO customers were without power in Nowata County early Tuesday, and another several hundred were without power in Craig County.
The heaviest rain fell north of Tulsa, where 2-5 inches were reported in Nowata and Craig counties, the Weather Service said.
Oklahoma 10 just east of U.S. 169 near Lenapah was closed due to flooding, the state Department of Transportation reported.
Several rivers and streams were at or approaching flood stage early Tuesday in Tulsa, Craig, Ottawa, Osage, Pawnee and Rogers counties, the Weather Service said. Flood warnings for Craig, Nowata and Ottawa counties were in effect until 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and for Washington and Osage Counties until 11:30 a.m. Rogers and Tulsa counties were also under flood warnings Tuesday morning.
The Red Cross reported that it was helping two people in South Coffeyville whose home was flooded overnight.
After storms the night before, crews closed Oklahoma 18 just north of Fairfax in Osage County because of flooding.
Associated Images:
Brad Walker cleans up damage from his brother's home north of Welch after a severe storm came through the area Monday night. Gary Crow/For the Tulsa World
24-hour rainfall totals early Tuesday. SOURCE: Oklahoma Mesonet
|
