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EF-4 tornado rips through Enid, Oklahoma

A powerful storm system spawned strong tornadoes north of Oklahoma City on Thursday night.

In Enid, a city of about 50,000 people, an EF-4 tornado was on the ground for 9 miles, packing winds of 170 to 175 mph and measuring 500 yards across at its widest.

For those 30 to 40 minutes, at least 40 homes were damaged, some blown off their foundations. But no one was killed and only minor injuries were reported.

Residents of this tornado-alley state are trained to either take shelter in a room near the center of their home or get underground. 

Basements aren’t common in Oklahoma because of the red clay soil and elevated water tables that make it difficult and expensive to install them, but many homes — like Hunt’s — have storm cellars or safe rooms with reinforced concrete walls where people can take cover.

The tornado knocked down utility poles and left power lines wrapped with huge chunks of debris. A home had part of its metal roof torn off and trees were left stripped of bark and limbs. At another home, a section of one wall had peeled away to reveal the interior of the home with some furniture still in place.

Neighboring counties also reported some flooded roads and barn damage. The National Weather Service was sending two crews out Friday to do damage surveys related to six potential tornadoes in the Enid and Braman areas.

Fences and some equipment were knocked down at nearby Vance Air Force Base, about 80 miles north of Oklahoma City. The base was closed until further notice “due to ongoing power and water restoration efforts,” it posted online Friday.

More storms are possible through Friday night across south-central and southeast Oklahoma, the weather service said. Strong to severe thunderstorms are expected to develop Saturday, including in the Enid area.

It was a stormy night in other states, too. In Kearney, Missouri, north of Kansas City, officials reported downed trees, debris blocking roadways and damage to homes on Thursday night after storms passed through the area. Officials said in a social media post that no injuries had been reported. Crews worked to make roads passable by early Friday and were expected to continue cleanup efforts during the day.


(Photo from video by KWTV/KOTV via AP)
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