Oklahoma towns hard hit by tornadoes begin long cleanup after 4 killed in weekend storms

Sulphur, Small towns in Oklahoma began a long cleanup Monday after tornadoes flattened homes and buildings and killed four people, including an infant, widening a destructive outbreak of severe weather across the middle of the U.S. According to AP, storms began late Saturday in Oklahoma injured at least 100 people, damaged a rural hospital, washed out roads and knocked out power to more than 40,000 customers at one point, state officials said. Tornadoes on Friday in Iowa and Nebraska also caused wide destruction and were blamed for one death. The destruction was extensive in Sulphur, a town of about 5,000 people south of Oklahoma City, where a tornado crumpled many downtown buildings, tossed cars and buses and sheared the roofs off houses across a 15-block radius. Kevin Stitt, Governor of Oklahoma said about 30 people were injured in Sulphur. White House officials said President Joe Biden spoke to Stitt on Sunday and offered the full support of the federal government. The deadly weather in Oklahoma added to the dozens of reported tornadoes that have wreaked havoc in the nation's midsection since Friday. Another death was reported Sunday in Iowa, where officials in Pottawattamie County said a man critically injured during a tornado Friday had died. In Oklahoma, authorities said the tornado in Sulphur began in a city park before barreling through the downtown, flipping cars and ripping the roofs and walls off of brick buildings. Windows and doors were blown out of structures that remained standing. Stitt issued an executive order Sunday declaring a state of emergency in 12 counties due to the fallout from the severe weather. Formal damage assessments are still underway, but the states plan to seek federal help. Source: Bahrain News Agency