Tornadoes touch down in central Oklahoma, winds and hail cause damage in eastern Oklahoma<br/><br/>A series of powerful thunderstorms rolled out of central Oklahoma Monday afternoon and evening into eastern
Monday, April 24th 2006, 2:00 pm
By: News On 6
Tornadoes touch down in central Oklahoma, winds and hail cause damage in eastern Oklahoma
A series of powerful thunderstorms rolled out of central Oklahoma Monday afternoon and evening into eastern Oklahoma.
The system spawned numerous severe thunderstorms in central and northern areas of the state, as well as two tornadoes near El Reno Monday. There have been no reports of any injuries.
The twisters hit a couple of hangars at the El Reno municipal airport south of the city around 7:30 PM. The storms ripped off parts of the hangars' roofs as it moved overhead and moved two airplanes outside.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol also says traffic jammed on Interstate 40 as wary motorists sought cover under overpasses.
High winds blew out plate glass windows at the Joe Marina dealership in Bixby as well as some vehicle windows in the parking lot. The storm also caused a portion of the ceiling to collapse inside the showroom. Even though it all happened very quickly, no one was hurt. George Eldridge: "I said to my salesman, look at that. There were a bunch of branches just floating in the wind, then, they started going round and round and I thought, oh my God, here it comes."
Those same winds knocked over trees just south of the dealership. Several trees were ripped up by the roots, others were split in half.
As the storms rolled across Tulsa County, they dropped dime size to golf ball size hail. Authorities say the hail did cause some damage to vehicles from Sand Springs to Owasso.
Other tornadoes were reported near Randlett in Cotton County and west of Marlow in Stephens County. The Cotton County twister reportedly grew to 200 yards wide.
[picture on the left - Skynews 9]
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