5 killed as tornado hits Oklahoma City again

According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph, the woman and her child were killed when their SUV overturned on the state highway as an enormous tornado swept through the area yesterday. The mother and her baby were among five people killed as a result of severe weather, and another 14 were injured, authorities said.u00a0

"We try to tell people not to drive into the storm," Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph said. "And this may have been one of those deals where there was little or no notice or warning. It's just so gut-wrenching and it's so heartbreaking," she said.

Volunteers help a homeowner whose house was destroyed by the May 20 tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. Pic-AFP

The accident happened as an enormous tornado swept through the area yesterday. The tornado was part of a midwestern storm system that spun off twisters as far away as St Louis, Missouri.

More than 50,000 people were without power by yesterday evening in the Oklahoma City area because of the severe weather, the Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company said. Also, more than half the city of Mustang, 27 kilometres south of Oklahoma City, was without power, Mustang Fire Chief Roy Widmann said.

The National Weather Service has warned a "confirmed and extremely dangerous tornado" was near the city of Harvester, about 40 kilometres northwest of St Louis. The tornado was moving east at 80 kmph, said Colene McEntee, the St Charles County Emergency Management coordinator.

Authorities in Missouri urged people to take shelter as tornado emergency was announced for Oklahoma City as well as for its suburbs of Moore, Yukon and Bethany. High winds were forecast for Moore, the suburb where a monster tornado had killed 24 people, including 10 children on May 20.
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