Tornadoes Rip Through Oklahoma, Killing at Least Two, Including an Infant

At least two people died and many others were hurt after multiple tornadoes swept across Oklahoma from Saturday night into early Sunday, authorities said.

One of the twisters hit Holdenville, roughly 70 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, killing an adult and a child, according to county authorities. Local Fox affiliate KOKH reported that the child was an infant. Hughes County Emergency Medical Services said in a Facebook post that four more people were injured in the Holdenville storm. The town has about 5,000 residents, and the tornado destroyed more than a dozen homes there.

Another tornado struck Sulphur, about 70 miles directly south of Oklahoma City on Interstate 35. Authorities had not immediately confirmed whether anyone in the city, which also has about 5,000 residents, had been killed or injured. The damage was extensive: downtown buildings were flattened, and debris covered streets and parks.

The Murray County sheriff's office asked residents to keep away so cleanup crews could work. "Stay home and do not come to look," it wrote on Facebook.

The National Weather Service was still determining how many tornadoes touched down across Oklahoma between Saturday night and Sunday morning, though early reports put the figure at around 17. Damage was also reported in Marietta, where a hospital was affected and sections of I-35 were closed because of overturned cars and downed power lines.

Gov. Kevin Stitt declared a state of emergency in 12 counties in southern Oklahoma. "My prayers are with those who lost loved ones," he said in a statement, thanking Oklahoma Emergency Management and others who worked overnight to keep residents safe, clear debris and assess damage.

The storm system kept moving across the Great Plains on Sunday. Flood watches and warnings were in effect for parts of Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri and Texas, and the National Weather Service cautioned that it could produce more tornadoes.

Earlier in the weekend, tornado damage was reported in Nebraska. On Friday, a storm struck an industrial building near Lincoln while 70 people were inside. Three were hospitalized, and everyone was accounted for.

Storms continued Saturday in and around Omaha, where fewer than two dozen people were treated at hospitals, authorities said. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen told Omaha ABC affiliate KETV, "This is a miracle from God, as far as I can tell, not a single fatality," adding that some of the homes were devastated.