OK Suffers Deadliest Tornado Outbreak Since 1999

A high-powered tornado leaves six dead and 150 others injured after cutting a deadly path through Picher in Ottawa County.  SKYNEWS 6 flew above the damage after the twister splintered homes and tossed cars through the air in northeastern Oklahoma.

At least six deaths have been blamed on the storm in Picher, and 14 others were killed across the state line in Missouri.

Ottawa County emergency manager Frank Geasland says some lives may have been spared because a government-sponsored buyout of homes in the town left many homes vacant.

The tornado is being called the deadliest in Oklahoma since the May 3, 1999, twister killed 44 people in the Oklahoma City area.

The preliminary count on Sunday has 40 tornadoes across the country on Saturday. Nine of those were in Eastern Oklahoma.

News On 6 Meteorologist Dick Faurot says those numbers will likely change as survey teams spread out to assess the damage.

Meanwhile, EMSA rescue crews and search dogs spent Sunday looking for survivors in piles of debris left by the tornado.

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