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Midwest Tornadoes Kill Five In Oklahoma, Injure Two Dozen

Hannah Madans, Staff Reporters |
April 15, 2012 | 11:41 a.m. PDT

Executive Producer & Staff

A storm makes its way through Kansas (Courtesy of Creative Commons)
A storm makes its way through Kansas (Courtesy of Creative Commons)
A series of tornadoes killed five people in Woodward, Oklahoma on Sunday, adding to the death total from the extreme weather roiling much of the Midwest. 

"When this one came in, our sirens weren’t working,” Woodward Mayor Roscoe Hill told TheDaily Beast. “We didn’t have a very good storm alert.”

The Red Cross drove relief trucks packed with cots, food and water and medical supplies in from Oklahoma City Sunday to aid rescue crews in Woodward. A local church has been established as a shelter for residents who are now homeless.

The storm contained dozens of tornadoes. In addition to those killed in Woodward, thousands of homes were leveled in Iowa and Kansas and hundreds of thousands lost power, reports the Associated Press.

More than 100 tornadoes have been reported across the area, according to the National Weather Service.

In Wichita, Kansas, a tornado caused some damage at the McConnell Air Force Base and at the Spirit AeroSystems and Boeing plants, reports the AP.

Forecasters have predicted that storms will continue Sunday from southern Texas to northern Michigan.

The first signs of the tornado appeared early Saturday morning in Oklahoma City. Storms were soon reported in Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska as well. Most areas the storm hit experienced large hail and heavy rain.



 

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