Officials say three children were among
the five people killed when a tornado ripped through a northwest
Oklahoma town and destroyed dozens of homes. A sixth death has also been confirmed this morning. Details have not been released yet.
The tornado hit just after midnight Sunday in Woodward, about
140 miles northwest of Oklahoma City. City Manager Alan Riffel says
89 homes and 13 businesses were destroyed.
State medical examiner spokeswoman Amy Elliot says a man named
Frank Hobbie and his two daughters, ages 5 and 7, died after the
tornado hit their mobile home park.
She says the other victims were Darren Juul and a 10-year-old
girl who died when the home they were in a few miles away from the
Hobbies was hit.
The men’s ages and the children’s names haven’t been released.
Elliot says a critically injured child was air lifted to a Texas
hospital.
Officials have also confirmed that 29 people
in Woodward were injured by the same tornado.
Woodward County Emergency Management Director Matt Lehenbauer
said Sunday the number of injured was 29, up from an earlier report
of 20.
Woodward Mayor Roscoe Hill, who is also a member of the Woodward
Regional Hospital board, said Sunday afternoon that seven people
were critically injured in the deadly storm. Two of those seven
were airlifted to nearby hospitals.
Woodward Police Chief Harvey Rutherford said Sunday that three
of the five deaths occurred at the mobile home park.
He said the other two were killed in a rural area about 6 miles
southwest of Woodward.