Cluster of tornadoes sweeps across Oklahoma plains, leaving at least two dead

Tornadoes swept across portions of the US Plains on Monday, killing two people in Oklahoma including an elderly man who was inside a home that was torn apart by one of the violent storms.

An emergency management director said a man believed to be in his upper 70s died when a tornado hit a home near Wynnewood, south of Oklahoma City. Authorities also confirmed the death of a man near the town of Connerville, Johnston County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Stacey Pulley said.

The storm was considered so violent that forecasters declared a “tornado emergency” for communities in the twister’s path.

“You are in a life-threatening situation,” forecasters declared while warning the communities of Roff, population 725, and Hickory, population 71, which were ultimately spared major damage. “Flying debris will be deadly to those caught without shelter.”

Dana Lance was driving through the Pontotoc County community of Roff on her way home from work Monday when the skies grew ominous, and she heard tornado sirens and forecasters on the radio urging people in the area to take cover.

“I parked and went into the school, which has a safe room,” Lance said. “There were kids and elderly people, dogs and cats, babies. It was like the whole town was there.”

One person sustained minor injuries in Murray County, where the tornado moved slowly through a rural area on its path that would take it south of Roff, said Gary Ligon, Murray County’s emergency management director.