Five Killed As Severe Storms Sweep through Oklahoma, Texas (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – At least five people were killed and more than a dozen were left injured as severe storms ripped through the US states of Oklahoma and Texas on Wednesday.
Three people died and at least 20 were injured in Onalaska, Texas, according to CNN, citing officials.
Onalaska is located about 90 miles north of Houston.
Three people died and at least 20 were injured in Onalaska, Texas, the Polk County Office of Emergency Management said in a statement.
Onalaska, in Polk County, is about 90 miles north of Houston. Polk County Judge Sydney Murphy issued a declaration of disaster Wednesday night after the county was hit. The declaration noted there was significant damage to residential structures, commercial structures and public infrastructure.
"We will be sending crews tomorrow morning to survey the path of the Onalaska tornado," the National Weather Service in Houston said on Twitter.
That same storm system took the lives of two people in southern Oklahoma, Marshall County emergency officials said.
A tornado touched down in Marshall County near the state's border with Texas around 5 p.m. local time, said Robert Chaney, director of Marshall County Emergency Management.
Several vehicles were thrown into trees and there was damage to two steel manufacturing companies, Chaney said.
A number of people were hurt, Chaney said, but it's unclear how severe their injuries were.
"There would have been a lot more death," Chaney said, adding the sirens and county system alerted residents of the danger.
The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning for several southeast Oklahoma counties on Wednesday. A severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado and golf ball-sized hail was reported just before 5 p.m. and was moving east at 40 mph, the weather service said.
