Oklahoma Tornado 2010: Oklahoma May Get More Tornadoes

The next time you complain about it being 40 degrees in May, divert your thoughts to those whose homes have been destroyed by the tornadoes in Oklahoma.

Residents Ryshele, left, and Ivanhoe Coleman, center, walk with their daughter Rikki, right, through what is left of Prairie Creek Village, a mobile home community in Slaughterville, Okla., after a tornado struck the area Monday, May 10, 2010. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Several tornadoes ripped through areas of Oklahoma and Kansas on Monday night, killing at least five people and injuring dozens more, leaving behind flattened homes, toppled semitrailers and downed power lines.

Thousands were left without power, as violent winds and baseball-sized hail tormented neighborhoods.

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Emergency authorities in Oklahoma City urged residents to stay off the roads in affected areas to allow rescue workers to search for survivors among the wreckage of their homes.

Police Capt. Patrick Stewart said officers closed off four neighborhoods because gas leaks, downed power lines and debris on the ground had made conditions hazardous.

Officials reported that at least 58 others were injured — two of them critically — in a tornado outbreak that forecasters had been predicting since last week.

The storms left trailers crushed at a mobile home community in Slaughterville, Okla.

Near Seminole, about 60 miles east of Oklahoma City, at least two homes were leveled after a tornado went through, Emergency Management Director Ernie Willis said. The town’s airport suffered extensive damage and several planes there were destroyed, he said.

The weather was expected to be more settled the day after the storm, said meteorologist Ty Judd with the National Weather Service in Norman.

“There is a chance of thunderstorms later this afternoon,” Judd said early Tuesday. “We’re not looking at what we saw yesterday.” However the threat of more tornadoes loom throughout the area.

Judd said a preliminary estimate counted 10 tornado touchdowns in Oklahoma Monday.

Oklahoma Gas and Electric reported more than 17,000 customers remained without power Tuesday morning, down from more than 34,000 late Monday. American Electric Power reported about 1,500 outages, down from more than 2,500.

In Kansas, the most serious damage was reported in Belmont. Several homes were hit in the town east of Topeka and there were widespread power outages. But no injuries were reported.

With The Associated Press