Death count from severe weather rises amid Easter weekend tornado threat

OKLAHOMA CITY − Severe storms that brought damaging winds, heavy rain, large hail and tornadoes to parts of the southern and Midwest U.S. have been blamed for at least three deaths in Oklahoma.

Numerous tornado alerts were issued by the National Weather Service across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri and Louisiana on April 20. AccuWeather said parts of parts of Missouri, Arkansas and Illinois were under high risk for severe thunderstorms.

"Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely," the weather service warned.

Fierce, damaging winds, thunderstorms and hail were all possible through the night, according to the Storm Prediction Center. The rounds of severe thunderstorms were expected to continue across portions of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, and into the Ozark Mountains and mid-Mississippi Valley on April 20, the weather service said.

By late April 20, local television stations in Arkansas and Montana reported at least two tornadoes had touched down. The weather service also warned of severe thunderstorms capable of producing tornados in Illinois and said shortly after 9 p.m. local time that a tornado was located east of East Moline — a northwestern Illinois city known for being one of the Quad Cities. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damages.

Showers and thunderstorms will continue into April 21 along and ahead of a front from the Great Lakes into the Tennessee Valley, Lower Mississippi Valley and the Gulf Coast, forecasters said. Excessive, flood-driving rains were expected. But the good news is the threat was expected to ease through the day.

Five tornadoes confirmed in Oklahoma

The National Weather Service in Norman confirmed five tornadoes developed on April 19 across several cities in southern Oklahoma. The agency had issued issued tornado warnings across the state between the evening of April 19 and early April 20, including in Love, Hughes, Pontotoc and Marshall counties, where the confirmed tornadoes occurred.

Bruce Thoren, a meteorologist at the local weather service, said tornadoes were present in Ada and near Courtney, Oswalt, Lebanon and Spaulding. He added that additional areas are under investigation, such as an area in Carter County, three miles away from the city of Wilson.

"There are double-digit tornado tracks that we're going to look at," he said.

A tornado that swept through Marshall County left two homes completely destroyed and damaged about 20, said Marshall County Emergency Management Director William Macon, who added that the department was conducting assessments on April 20. A church and a gas station at the intersection of U.S. 77 and State Highway 32 were also damaged.

Flooding, deaths in Oklahoma

"This was a historical weather event that impacted roads & caused dozens of high-water incidents across the city," the police department in Moore, Oklahoma, posted on social media late on April 19. Moore is a city of more than 60,000 people 10 miles south of Oklahoma City.

Police said numerous roads and neighborhoods were flooded, and officers assisted more than a dozen motorists whose vehicles were trapped in high water. One vehicle left the roadway and was swept under the bridge. Police estimated that flooding caused waters to rise to around 6-8 inches where the fatalities occurred.

Clint Byley, a spokesperson for the Moore Police Department, said responders at the scene learned that a total of five people had been inside two vehicles that got caught at about 9 p.m. on April 19. Three were immediately rescued and two bodies were later recovered, he said.

Another death was reported in Hughes County, about 75 miles east of Norman. Hughes County Emergency Management reported that at about 10:35 p.m. local time, a tornado touched down in the small town of Spaulding.

One person was killed and two others were injured, according to the agency. Two homes were also destroyed and several other small structures in the area were damaged.

The Hughes County Emergency Management said crews with the weather service were on site on April 20 to assess the tornado damage.

Woman, 12-year-old boy are victims

"It is with great sadness that we report that two individuals, an adult female and a 12-year-old male, were later located deceased," police said on X. "We would like to extend a thank you to our neighboring agencies who assisted in rescue efforts. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family & friends of the victims."

Byley said police opened an investigation into the exact cause of the incident, which involved a truck and a jeep that had became submerged under a bridge.

"We had a significant high-water situation," he said. "We are trying to investigate that to figure out what direction the vehicle was traveling, how it got stuck underneath the bridge... There's a lot of moving parts to it, so that'll be all part of the investigation."

Roads closed, powerlines down across Oklahoma

Two people near Ada, about 85 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, were injured and sent to the hospital and several homes and businesses were damaged on the night of April 19, according to the state Department of Emergency Services in a storm update issued on April 20. A preliminary survey by the Weather Service office found "at least EF1 damage."

The state transportation department also reported multiple road closures because of storm damage, including in Atoka, Bryan, Carter, Cherokee, Jefferson, Johnston, Mayes, McIntosh, Muskogee, Okfuskee, Okmulgee and Washington counties.

Powerlines, properties and trees in Hughes, Love, Marshall, Murray and Pontotoc counties were damaged, the emergency agency said.

Damages reported in north central Texas

At least two tornadoes crossed west Parker County, Texas, late April 19, according to the county’s emergency services. Parker County is located just west of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.

Emergency crews were dispatched to several residences to provide assistance and perform damage assessments in areas near the communities of Peaster, Poolville and Authon, Parker County Emergency Services said in a statement.

Photos shared on social media showed damaged homes with torn off roofs, including one house that had a smashed roof in a driveway. The severe weather also caused several areas in west Parker County to lose power, according to the county’s emergency services.

AccuWeather warned that the threat of severe weather will reach its peak from northeastern Texas through the Missouri Valley through the night of April 20. Some risks include damaging wind gusts, hail and a few tornadoes.

Meanwhile, isolated flash flooding was possible for areas in the middle and upper Texas coastal plain through April 20 due to lingering thunderstorms, according to the Storm Prediction Center. Some parts are predicted to see a total of 3 to 6 inches of rainfall.