1 dead, dozens hurt as tornadoes hit Texas and Oklahoma

By Jake Bleiberg – Associated Press

POWDERLY, Texas (AP) — Tornadoes tore through parts of Texas and Oklahoma on Friday, killing at least one person, injuring dozens of others and leaving dozens of homes and buildings in ruins.

A man searches for his glasses he dropped the night before in front of his daughter’s home destroyed by a tornado in Powderly, Texas, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Tornadoes hit hard in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, in the southeastern corner of the state and Gov. Kevin Stitt toured the town of Idabel on Saturday morning, according to state Department of Emergency Management spokesperson Keli Cain.

“There’s a lot of damage,” Cain said. “There are well over 100 homes and businesses damaged from minor damage to totally destroyed.”

Cody McDaniel, the county’s emergency manager, confirmed one death elsewhere in the county although he did not immediately provide details and did not immediately return phone calls Saturday morning.

The small town of about 7,000 had a church, medical center and a school torn apart and Stitt had said earlier that search and rescue teams were being sent to the town.
“Praying for Oklahomans impacted by today’s tornadoes,” Stitt tweeted.

Keli Cain of the Oklahoma Emergency Management Office said at least three other counties were also hit by storms, with flash flooding in some areas.

The National Weather Service said tornadoes also were reported in Texas and Arkansas and a storm system was heading toward Louisiana.

In Texas, authorities in Lamar County said at least 50 homes were damaged or destroyed and 10 people were treated at one hospital, including two with critical injuries. No deaths were immediately reported.

Terimaine Davis and his son were huddled in the bathtub until just before the tornado barreled through Friday, reducing their home in the town of Powderly to a roofless, sagging heap.
“We left like five minutes before the tornado actually hit,” Davis, 33, told The Associated Press. “Me and my son were in the house in the tub and that was about the only thing left standing.”
In their driveway Saturday morning, a child’s car seat leaned against a dented, grey Chevrolet sedan with several windows blown out. Around back, his wife, Lori Davis, handed Terimaine a basket of toiletries from inside the wreckage of their house.

The couple and the three kids who live with them did not have renter’s insurance, Lori Davis said, and none of their furniture survived. “We’re going to have to start from scratch,” she said.
They hope to stay with family until they can find a place to live.

“The next few days look like rough times,” Terimaine Davis said.

Judge Brandon Bell, the county’s highest elected official, declared a disaster in the area, a step in getting federal assistance and funding. Bell’s declaration said at least two dozen people were injured across the county.

Powderly is about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of Idabel and about 120 miles (193 kilometers) northeast of Dallas and both are near the Texas-Oklahoma border.

The Lamar County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management said the tornado touched down shortly after 4 p.m. and traveled north-northeast through the communities of Hopewell, Caviness, Beaver Creek and Powderly.

Churches opened their doors to serve as shelters for those whose homes were impacted.

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