On Sunday, small towns in Oklahoma began a long cleanup after tornadoes flattened homes and buildings and killed four people, including an infant, widening a destructive outbreak of severe weather across the middle of the United States.
According to state officials, punishing storms that started late Saturday in Oklahoma damaged a rural hospital, flooded roads, and at one point cut off electricity to over 40,000 customers.
In Sulphur, a town of about 5,000 people south of Oklahoma City, a tornado caused extensive damage, tearing off the roofs of houses and crumpling many downtown buildings.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said while visiting the hard-hit town that it seemed like every business downtown had been destroyed.
About 30 people were hurt in Sulphur, some of whom were inside a bar when the tornado made landfall, the Associated Press reported.
The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said that around 100 injuries were recorded by hospitals throughout the state.
Mike Dockrey, the director of Hughes County Emergency Management, told KOCO-TV that one of the dead was an infant.
According to the White House, President Joe Biden spoke to Stitt on Sunday and gave his entire support.
Dozens of recorded tornadoes have wreaked havoc in the middle of the country since the fatal weather on Friday in Oklahoma. In Pottawattamie County, Iowa, authorities announced on Sunday that a man who had been badly hurt in a tornado on Friday had passed away.
Authorities said that the tornado started in a city park and tore through the downtown area, flipping cars and tearing off the walls and roofs of brick structures.
Sulphur resident Kelly Trussell said as she observed the damage, "How do you rebuild it? This is complete devastation."
