Storm System Produces Tornado, Wind Damage In State

UNDATED (AP) -- A powerful late-summer storm system produced a tornado and other severe weather that left damage in parts of Oklahoma.<br/><br/>Local emergency personnel reported a tornado in Pickens around

Friday, September 22nd 2006, 6:21 am

By: News On 6

UNDATED (AP) -- A powerful late-summer storm system produced a tornado and other severe weather that left damage in parts of Oklahoma.

Local emergency personnel reported a tornado in Pickens around 9:30 Thursday night and near Smithville about 30 minutes later in McCurtain County. There were no immediate reports of injury or damage with the storm.

Nearby, downed trees blocked roads between Antlers and the Pushmataha-Atoka county line, while at least one house was damaged and a barn swept away near Lane in Atoka County, where a wind gust of 60 miles per hour was reported.

There also was a report of a 65-mile per hour wind gust three miles southwest of Wapanucka in Johnston County.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for much of eastern Oklahoma earlier Thursday. It has since been scaled back to three counties in southeastern Oklahoma overnight.

Warnings were issued for Atoka, Craig, Nowata and Pushmataha counties.