A rash of tornadoes sweeping through Oklahoma and the Midwest has left one dead, several in hospitals with injuries and hundreds of homes and buildings in shreds.
On Monday, baseball-sized hail was hammering away in the central Plains and Midwest, CNN reported. Early in the morning, one tornado had already touched down in Missouri, tearing across two counties. Damage reports are still trickling in, Barton County Emergency Management Director Tom Ryan said, in CNN.
One elderly man was killed, as a twister devastated a trailer park in Pottawatomie County, Okla., early Monday morning. At least 200 homes in that county alone have been destroyed in the storm, said Red Cross spokesman Ken Garcia, in CNN.
A total of 300 homes across the state have been reportedly damaged, he said.
The number of tornado sightings has hit the double digits. At least 50 have been reported in Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois and Iowa, Good Morning America reported. Oklahoma and Kansas are the hardest hit so far, CNN said.
One near Wellston, Okla., was a reported half-mile wide.
“It’s tearing up everything,” one helicopter reporter for KFOR TV said, of the Wellston storm. “Just ripping everything up in its sight.”
CNN said 11 victims were in St. Anthony Shawnee Hospital in Shawnee, Okla., receiving treatment for storm-related injuries. One is in critical condition, hospital spokeswoman Carla Tollett said, in CNN.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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