At least one person has died in Elk City, Oklahoma, after a tornado struck the Route 66 city on Tuesday.
KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City provided some other details about the destruction:
Forty homes have been completely destroyed and between 50 and 75 homes were heavily damaged, said Danny Ringer, with the Elk City Fire Department. Multiple people were trapped in homes after a tornado touched down south of Elk City.
Elk City officials told KOCO 5 that multiple homes and condos are damaged. Crews also responded to a gas leak around the golf course. They are asking people to stay away from the area.
The only silver lining of this disaster is the twister struck on the south side of town and missed the Route 66 corridor.
KOTV provided this aerial footage of the damage:
NewsOn6.com – Tulsa, OK – News, Weather, Video and Sports – KOTV.com |
The Elk City school district canceled classes Wednesday in the wake of the storm.
The First Baptist Church of Elk City is opening a shelter for storm victims, and the Oklahoma Red Cross is scheduled to send an emergency-response vehicle and supplies to Elk City on Wednesday.
Here are more images of Elk City damage from the tornado:
Major damage south side of Elk City, OK #oktornado pic.twitter.com/SSHaUonj6Q
— cheeznado (@cheeznado) May 17, 2017
Aerial footage shows destruction in Elk City, Okla., after a tornado touched down Tuesday, leaving at least one dead https://t.co/aJx51pfBcc pic.twitter.com/Aezy2DwlCb
— ABC News (@ABC) May 17, 2017
South Elk City, OK #tornado #okwx @NWSNorman pic.twitter.com/1KDIif3icI
— David Drummond (@DavidDrummondTX) May 17, 2017
(Screen-capture image of Elk City tornado damage from SevereStudios video)