Published April 29, 2024 8:27pm EDT
There have been more than 90 confirmed tornadoes ranging from EF-0 to EF-4 since Thursday, and that number could continue to rise as survey teams from the National Weather Service are still out looking at the damage left behind.
By Steven Yablonski , Aaron BarkerSource FOX Weather
People sift through debris after tornado devastates Nebraska town
Elkhorn, Nebraska, was one of the hardest hit areas during the recent tornado outbreak. Now, residents are picking up the pieces. Robert Ray reports.
A severe weather outbreak barreled across America’s heartland over the weekend, producing dozens of tornadoes that tore through communities from Texas to Iowa and left at least five people dead as thousands of residents are now in the process of sifting through the debris of destroyed homes and businesses trying to recover whatever belongings remain.
Since the event began Thursday, there have been more than 90 confirmed tornadoes ranging from EF-0 to EF-4, and that number could continue to rise as survey teams from the National Weather Service are still out in full force looking at the damage left behind.
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DRONE VIDEO SHOWS SULPHUR, OKLAHOMA, NEARLY UNRECOGNIZABLE AFTER DIRECT HIT FROM TORNADO
Images from Christy Morris, owner of The Mix Mercantile, show the destruction after the Sulphur, Oklahoma tornado on April 28, 2024.
(Christy Morris)
Friday was the most active tornado day of 2024, with the NWS saying it received 88 tornado reports – the most in a single day since March 31, 2023, when 161 were reported.
In addition to the dozens of Tornado Warnings that were issued in Iowa and Nebraska on Friday, two rare Tornado Emergencies were issued.
Those tornadoes produced catastrophic damage in cities such as Elkhorn in Nebraska and Minden in Iowa, and specialized response teams have been brought in to help survey the destruction.
IOWA TROOPER SURVIVES TORNADO IN CAR, PATCHES WINDOW AND CONTINUES HELPING VICTIMS
Man killed while sheltering from storm in Minden
Iowa town decimated by tornado
FOX Weather’s Brandy Campbell visited decimated Minden, Iowa, the day after a tornado tore through the town. She talks to residents Sherri Guerrero and Randy Davis about how they survived. Governor Kim Reynolds explains that Mayor Ken Zimmerman was a survivor as well.
Sirens wailed and phones screeched, alerting people to the dangers that were approaching as a massive wedge tornado was inching closer to the town of Minden, Iowa.
But despite the preparations and people seeking shelter, the monster storm killed at least one person.
VIOLENT, WEDGE-SHAPED TORNADO SLAMS RURAL COMMUNITIES IN IOWA: ‘PRAYED EVERYTHING WOULD BE OK’
Damage left behind after a tornado swept through Elkhorn, Nebraska on April 26, 2024.
(Nicole Valdes / FOX Weather)
The Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department confirmed that a man died Saturday from injuries he sustained during Friday’s tornado outbreak.
Family members told local media that the man was trapped in his basement after the tornado. First responders were able to free the man and rush him to a local hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries.
NEIGHBORHOODS AROUND OMAHA, NEBRASKA, DEVASTATED BY LARGE TORNADO
At least 4 dead, including infant, in Oklahoma
Drone video shows stretch of Sulphur, Oklahoma downtown after devastating tornado
First light tornado damage from Sulphur, Oklahoma was seen on April 28, 2024. Drone footage shows destroyed businesses and homes, as well as cars thrown and turned over from an intense tornado that passed through the town.
At least four people were killed and more than 100 others were injured in Oklahoma during a tornado outbreak there on Saturday.
Two deaths were reported in the community of Holdenville, including an infant. A GoFundMe has since been set up to benefit the family that is now grieving the loss of their child.
“Words can’t express the immense loss this family has suffered,” the GoFundMe reads. According to the fundraiser, the family also lost their home, two vehicles and all of their belongings.
Funerals delayed for two tornado victims as flooding rains soaked the community in mourning
FOX Weather’s Katie Byrne reports from Holdenville, Oklahoma, a community reeling after a tornado struck Saturday killing a baby and a man. Flooding rains following the twister left the ground soaked and will delay burying the victims.
FOX Weather Correspondent Katie Byrne was in Holdenville and spoke with the family of one of the victims, Jimmy Johnson. They told her that he was able to protect his niece and nephew, who were at the home with him when the tornado destroyed it.
One funeral home is taking care of both funerals for grieving families but said recent rain has made the ground too saturated to hold those funerals right now.
“We just came out here to get a lay of the land and see what we have to do as far as interment for the ones that passed away,” Anthony Wood said. “It looks like somebody set a bomb off.”
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This image shows major damage to a building in Marietta, Oklahoma, on Sunday, April 28, 2024.
(KTVT / FOX Weather)
At a news conference on Sunday, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said two additional deaths were reported in the state – one in Marietta and another in the hard-hit community of Sulphur.
“Definitely the most damage since I’ve been governor that I’ve seen,” Stitt said during a news conference Sunday in Sulphur. “I’ve seen a lot of damage. I’ve been around the state for, this is my sixth year, but what I saw in downtown Sulphur is unbelievable.”
The tornado that hit Sulphur tore through the downtown area, destroying nearly every business on West Muskogee Avenue. FOX Weather Correspondent Brandy Campbell was in the devastated community on Monday and said buildings are continuing to crumble as the wind blows, and the area has been closed off to the public for safety reasons.
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Watch: Buildings destroyed, trucks mangled after tornado strikes Marietta, Oklahoma
Video recorded in Marietta, Oklahoma, shows catastrophic damage left behind when a tornado ripped through the community on Saturday, April 27, 2024.
Storm surveys are continuing in Oklahoma, but forecasters with the NWS said preliminary assessments found damage consistent with EF-3 tornadoes in Sulphur and Holdenville. NWS officials said that EF-4 damage was found in Marietta.
Stitt issued an executive order on Sunday morning declaring a state of emergency in Carter, Cotton, Garfield, Hughes, Kay, Lincoln, Love, Murray, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Payne and Pontotoc counties because of the damage left behind in the wake of the severe weather on Saturday.
Watch: Ambulances race down I-35 in Marietta, Oklahoma, after tornado
Video recorded on Interstate 35 in Marietta, Oklahoma, shows damage left behind when a tornado moved through on Saturday, April, 27, 2024.
“There is hereby a declared a disaster emergency caused by the severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, hail and flooding in the State of Oklahoma that threatens the lives and property of the people of this State and the public’s peace, health and safety,” the executive order read.
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