OKLAHOMA CITY – A powerful storm system rumbled through the central and southern United States on Sunday, spawning several tornadoes, including one that killed two people in a small northeastern Oklahoma city and another that carved a path of destruction through several northern suburbs of Little Rock, Ark.
The tornado that killed two people in Quapaw, which is near Oklahoma’s borders with Kansas and Missouri, struck the city at around 5:30 p.m., Ottawa County sheriff’s dispatcher Colleen Thompson said.
Ottawa County Emergency Management Director Joe Dan Morgan said Quapaw, which has about 900 residents, was heavily damaged by the tornado.
“Looks like about half of town got extensive damage as well as the fire department,” he said.
After hitting there, the twister continued northward into Kansas and struck Baxter Springs, about five miles away, he said.
Cherokee County, Kan., sheriff’s dispatcher Josh Harvey said the tornado that hit Baxter Springs injured several people and caused extensive damage, but no deaths had been reported.
That twister was one of several that struck Sunday in a large swath of the Plains, Midwest and South affected by the storm system. Tornadoes also touched down in Arkansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. Tornado warnings, which indicate the greatest threat of a strike, were also in effect for parts of northeastern Texas and western Tennessee as of 6:30 p.m. MDT.
A large tornado formed about 10 miles west of Little Rock, Ark., Sunday night and stayed on the ground as it moved northeastward for at least 30 miles, carving a destructive path through several suburbs. Although there were no immediate reports of injuries, television footage showed badly damaged buildings and vehicles, and trees that had been stripped bare of their leaves and smaller branches.
One of Sunday’s twisters touched down northwest of Joplin, Mo., where a massive tornado in May 2011 killed 161 people, injured many others and leveled a large swath of the city. Sunday’s twister didn’t hit Joplin.
Forecasters also asked people to be alert Sunday for possible tornadoes in a wide swath of the Midwest and south, stretching from Omaha, Neb., south to Texas and east to northern Louisiana and Mississippi.
“The greatest risk for a few intense tornadoes will exist across much of Arkansas perhaps into western and central Missouri,” a weather service advisory said.
Tornado watches – which means twisters could develop but aren’t an immediate threat – were in effect for states as far west as New Mexico and as far east as Tennessee, and the system produced storms moving through the region in waves. Watches were also issued for Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Iowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana.
Areas not getting tornadoes could still get buffeted by hail and powerful straight-line winds. Forecasters warned of hail stones as big as baseballs and wind gusts up to hurricane-force – 75 mph or higher.
Sunday was the third anniversary of a 122-tornado day, which struck parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia and killed 316 people.
Meanwhile, runners in Oklahoma City took shelter early Sunday as hail and high winds delayed the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon by 105 minutes to let a severe thunderstorm pass through.
