A powerful storm system spawned at least two tornadoes and several severe thunderstorms, causing light damage in central and northeastern areas of the state Monday, authorities said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
West of Oklahoma City, two tornadoes tore through sparsely populated areas of Canadian County, damaging hangars at the municipal airport south of El Reno.
Television footage showed debris from the buildings being lifted and flung about as the tornado moved overhead. Parts of the hangars’ roofs were ripped away and a couple of airplanes were moved outside.
Damage from the storms, which formed near U.S. Highway 81 and Interstate 40 about 40 miles west of Oklahoma City, appeared to be isolated, Lt. Stewart Meyer, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokesman said.
‘It hit and was gone’
Nearby, employees and patrons watched as the twisters danced west and south of the Denny’s Restaurant along I-40, restaurant manager Danielle Landers said.
“We had about seven tables at the time,” she said. “There were a few people that wanted to go outside and see the tornadoes, but most people waited inside until the storm passed. We didn’t see any damage.”
Near Tulsa, a storm toppled trees and damaged at least one house, a mobile home and an auto dealership as it moved through around 1 p.m.
Resident Leslie Shanks said he saw a tornado twist a tree in his front yard and noticed that another tree had fallen onto the back of his house.
“It hit and was gone,” Shanks told the Tulsa World.
Some 2,618 Oklahoma Gas & Electric customers and between 3,000 and 4,000 AEP-PSO customers lost electric power at the height of the storms. Service had been restored to all but 1,200 AEP-PSO customers by 8 p.m., officials said.