At least six people have been killed after nearly two dozen tornadoes ripped through the south central region of the United states, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
Three people were killed and some 20 injured by a fearsome tornado in Onalaska, Texas located roughly 90 miles north of Houston. Two others were killed by another violent storm system in southern Oklahoma while another fatality occurred in Louisiana.
The National Weather Service confirmed the presence of a “large and extremely dangerous tornado,” which touched down at approximately 6pm local time. Eyewitness video shows the full scale of the colossal twister as it formed and tore through the countryside.
I shot this video from just NW of Paris pic.twitter.com/9XbGa2Wryn
Additional footage shows the extent of the damage at ground zero.
TORNADO DAMAGE in Onalaska. Polk County OEM says at least 10 people injured. #abc13pic.twitter.com/RHZ6JZPqMB
Significant damage in Onalaska, Texas from the storms that moved through this afternoon. #txwx@KBTXWeather@NWSHouston@miamontgomerywx@KBTXShel@kbtxerikapic.twitter.com/6IyDUfZFlo
Search and rescue crews are sifting through the wreckage of entire neighborhoods to look for any residents who may not have made it out in time.
“At this time, search and rescue is ongoing, and we have 20-30 injuries and three deaths,” Polk County emergency management said in a statement which also requested no “spontaneous volunteers,” asking the public instead to avoid the area as traffic has hampered the response at times.
Some 9,000 people were left without power according to an area power company, which said that the tornado had inflicted extreme damage to power lines and that it was unclear how long it would take crews to bring the power back online.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma was also lashed by Mother Nature, with such force that a semi-truck was thrown on its side.
Looks like a tornado just went through south of jet stream casino on I-35 @MikeMorganKFOR@kforpic.twitter.com/nhT74ZcBIB
Footage from the ground purports to show a tornado tearing through the city of Madill. The tornado hit right as people were getting off work in two manufacturing facilities and were commuting home.
Tornado in Madill, OK. 30 minutes from us. 2 dead. ? pic.twitter.com/j1pi4P16Fr
Another tornado was confirmed in Jasper, Texas near the Louisiana border. One woman reportedly died as a result of the violent storms in Louisiana.
As of 10:30pm eastern time Wednesday night, there had been a total of 21 tornadoes reported across Texas and Oklahoma.
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