Tornadoes in Oklahoma: Sirens are sounding again in Oklahoma City as another tornado threat targets the region and the South

CNN
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More severe weather is expected Monday across the South and Southern Plains, including in Oklahoma, where residents are watching the destruction from tornado storms that injured at least 11 people and leveled homes over the weekend.

Tornado sirens blared Monday morning in Oklahoma City, where residents are still surrounded by the destruction and debris caused by the weekend's severe storms after the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning. There were no confirmed tornadoes or reports of damage from Monday morning's storms.

Oklahoma City and The eastern portions of the state, as well as parts of northern Texas, western Arkansas and southwest Missouri, face the greatest threat of thunderstorms Monday, a level 3 out of 5 threat with the possibility of strong tornadoes.

Due to the severe weather, Edmond Public Schools canceled all classes and school-related activities on Monday. Oklahoma City Public Schools canceled a planned career training day for its employees on Monday due to the severe weather. The district's schools are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Community members in the Moore Public Schools district in Oklahoma have begun sending donations to families affected by the storm.

While the persistent storms will weaken at some point Monday morning, severe thunderstorms are expected to increase again in parts of the region throughout the day and could last into the evening hours – threatening many of the same areas hit by tornadoes and storms over the weekend were hit by floods.

A Level 2 out of 5 severe thunderstorm threat extends from Central and East Texas to the Illinois-Missouri border – including Dallas, threatening damaging wind gusts, large hail and tornadoes, according to the SPC.

Tornadoes are less common but can occur in the fall and winter when cold air collides with warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. While climate scientists have less confidence in the connection between climate change and the increase in severe thunderstorms that result from it Tornadoes are more common during traditionally less active seasons.

Heavy rain could also flood roads. More than 7 million people are under flood watches in northern Texas, most of Oklahoma, southeastern Kansas, northwestern Arkansas and southern Missouri.

At least five tornadoes, combined with severe flooding from heavy rains, ripped through parts of Oklahoma from Saturday to Sunday, destroying homes and other buildings.

Video from CNN affiliate KOCO shows the damage, with cars overturned and entire homes destroyed. The storms toppled telephone poles and snapped trees in half. Debris is scattered across affected areas, including large pieces of wood and metal from destroyed buildings.

Nearly 40 structures were destroyed in the Oklahoma City area, the Oklahoma City Fire Department said in a Facebook post. Another 43 buildings were severely damaged, while 54 had minor damage.

At least eleven people were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the fire department said on Sunday evening. Several others suffered minor injuries but refused to seek medical help.

Katie Anderson, a resident of southeast Oklahoma City, told CNN affiliate KOKH that she woke up Sunday to the sound of a severe storm alarm on her phone – what she initially thought was her church alarm. Then she quickly realized that debris was hitting her house. Heavy rain from the storm had caused their roof to collapse in several places.

“Every single thing is replaceable, but people are not,” Anderson said. “The fact that we get away with no injuries and absolutely no problems means a lot more to me than whether or not I have a sofa with a roof.”

“It was the loudest thing I've ever heard in my life,” Thomas Shaver, another Oklahoma City resident, told KOKH, describing a large boom that sounded like a train on Sunday morning.

Amid the intense storm, Shaver told KOKH he pulled his daughter and wife into one of the hallways of their home and began to pray. He said the bedrooms in his home are now gone – as is part of the roof.

“A lot of damage was done to the cars and other things, but some things survived and we are still able to get around. I’m very grateful for that,” he told the outlet.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has issued an emergency declaration for six counties. Officials were working to ensure polling places across the state had power ahead of Tuesday's presidential election, Stitt said in a news conference Sunday.

“We will inform the public if there are issues with polling places there and redirect people if necessary,” the governor said. More than 12,000 electricity customers in Oklahoma were still without power early Monday, according to PowerOutage.US.

Stitt warned that potentially life-threatening conditions will spread across the state. “Utility restoration is underway as conditions allow, and the state is working closely with local partners to ensure Oklahomans have what they need,” he said in a post on X.

The five tornadoes the National Weather Service has confirmed so far include two that are believed to have been powerful EF-3 twisters, one in Harrah and one near Sooner Road in Cleveland and Oklahoma counties. Tornado strength is measured using the Enhanced Fujita Scale or EF Scale, which rates tornadoes from EF-0 to EF-5 based on estimated wind speeds and associated damage.

Most tornadoes occurred in the dark hours of the night, and residents woke up to splintered buildings and trails of debris.

Research shows that nighttime tornadoes are more than twice as deadly as daytime ones because nighttime tornadoes are difficult to spot in the dark and those sleeping may not know that danger is near.