Nine killed in tornado outbreak in Oklahoma

 

June 1, 2013 – OKLAHOMA – Still recovering from a monster EF-5 tornado that leveled parts of the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, the area was hit hard again Friday night. At least nine people — including a mother and child — were reported dead by the state medical examiner’s office in the wake of multiple violent tornadoes. “The storm system swatted down power lines and uprooted trees, flicked big rigs on their sides, and yanked off part of the terminal roof at Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers World Airport,” CNN reports. The Oklahoman reports that at least 87 people were injured: “Multiple injuries were reported near Interstate 40 and Banner Road, where six tractor-trailers were flipped on their sides near a westbound weigh station along the interstate between Yukon and El Reno. “Two other tractor-trailers overturned on the interstate — one blocking an eastbound lane and the other a westbound lane. Sheet metal debris littered the median.” At the height of the storm, emergency crews could not make it to the highway, because of hurricane-force winds. KFOR-TV’s Emily Sutton was in the middle of the “El Reno tornado.” They were chasing the storm, when suddenly the tornado made a sharp turn and they found themselves right in the middle of it. The sky went black, the trees began to bend, the photographer saw a bird fall from the sky. Here’s video of the moment: Oklahoma City spokeswoman Kristy Yager told CNN that after the Moore tornado, the area really needed a break, but “there’s just no rest.” The AP reports that unlike the EF-5 tornado in Moore, these storms came with significant rain. Oklahoma City received 7 inches of rain during the course of a few hours, leaving parts of the metro area flooded. –NPR

Stormchasers hit by tornado: Meteorologist Mike Bettes was chasing the monster rain-wrapped tornado near El Reno, Okla. when he says the storm picked up the heavy chase SUV and threw it an estimated 200 yards. “We were ahead of the storm. We stopped to broadcast and I saw a large violent wedge tornado,” Bettes said in a live phone interview after he established phone connection after the incident. “What we were trying to do was just get away from it and get to the south side of it,” Bettes said. “But what ended up happening was all three of our vehicles that we chase with were all hit by it.” He remembers being thrown into the air. “It was like we were floating. We were tumbling. We were airborne at least one point and we were floating. Then we weren’t tumbling anymore and we came down hard.” He says the airbags deployed and everyone had their seat belts on. Bettes and his team members are alive, but they do have minor injuries. They planned to head to a hospital to get team members stitches. “My life flashed before my eyes.” –Weather