A tornado struck a city in Oklahoma on Thursday night as a severe weather threat stretched from Texas to the Great Lakes, the National Weather Service said.
The tornado hit the city of Enid, Okla., and was heading toward the nearby town of Fairmont, according to the Weather Service. It struck Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Sheriff Cory Rink of Garfield County said in an interview with KOCO, a local television station.
Sheriff Rink said a few people were injured on the south side of Enid and that no deaths were reported. The local news media reported that the tornado moved through a residential area, an airport and several colleges.
Officials were assessing the extent of the damage at Vance Air Force Base, said Ashley D. Hendricks, a spokeswoman for the Air Force’s 71st Flying Training Wing, which is based at Vance.
The Weather Service had warned of a “particularly dangerous situation” — indicating that strong and violent tornadoes were possible — for Garfield County until 10 p.m. local time. Dozens of tornado watches remained in place across Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska late Thursday.
There was a lower risk of severe storms on Friday, but Kansas and Oklahoma were expected to face an enhanced risk on Saturday, the Weather Service said. Showers and thunderstorms were forecast to continue spreading through the southern and central states through Saturday afternoon, mostly in an area from Kansas to Alabama.
The Weather Service also warned of potential flash flooding in Arkansas and Mississippi, where it said that up to three inches of rain could fall.