Oklahoma Tornadoes Kill 3, Devastate Homes and Businesses

Debris stretches for miles, with neighborhoods left in ruins. Every building on the campus of Oklahoma Baptist University was damaged during the overnight storms. “Last night OBU campus experienced the worst natural disaster in its 113-year history,” said Dr. Heath Thomas, the university’s president.

As many as eight tornadoes ripped across Oklahoma, killing three. Two of the victims were in Cole, a small town on the outskirts of Oklahoma City. “Complete chaos. We walked outside. Trees everywhere. Metal everywhere. Everything just destroyed,” said one resident.

Power lines and trees were pulled down as the system pushed across Iowa and Kansas as well. A day later, the extent of the damage is still unclear. “These rural areas are spread out on dirt roads, on gravel roads, and it makes searching very tedious, meaning we have to go from place to place and walk up driveways and things like that to search these areas,” said Eric Foster of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

The recovery process for those hardest hit will take much longer than the search and rescue operation.