{"id":625509,"date":"2026-04-24T12:23:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T12:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/625509\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T12:23:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T12:23:09","slug":"tornado-barrels-through-oklahoma-damaging-homes-and-shutting-down-roads-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/625509\/","title":{"rendered":"Tornado barrels through Oklahoma, damaging homes and shutting down roads \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

ENID, Okla. (AP) \u2014 A powerful tornado in Oklahoma ripped roofs off buildings and reduced others to rubble, knocked down power poles and sent emergency crews rushing into a rural community near Vance Air Force Base, officials said.<\/p>\n

The confirmed tornado Thursday moved across parts of Enid, a city of about 50,000 people near the state\u2019s northern border, according to the National Weather Service. Video showed a rapidly rotating column of air touching down along with totaled homes.<\/p>\n

There were no immediate reports of fatalities and only minor injuries hours after the tornado passed through, according to the Garfield County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn this image taken from video from KWTV\/KOTV, a tornado crosses a highway in Enid, Okla., Thursday, April 23, 2026. (KWTV\/KOTV via AP)<\/p>\n

Local police were sent to the affected areas within minutes and began home searches, followed by multiple searches by the Enid Fire Department and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Enid Mayor David Mason said Friday.<\/p>\n

Mason said some residents were trapped in their homes by debris and had to be rescued. He said some of the worst damage happened in Gray Ridge, a neighborhood on the south side of the city, where homes were knocked down.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe support from our community has been remarkable. Local businesses have offered equipment and labor, residents have opened their doors, and supplies have poured in already,\u201d Mason posted online. \u201cThis is who Enid is in challenging moments \u2014 we continue to show up for one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video from the scene showed piles of rubble where homes once stood. Other buildings appeared to be leveled.<\/p>\n

Amy Kuntz, who was driving home to Enid, was calming her daughter over the phone during the storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said, \u2018I don\u2019t know what to do,\u2019 And then I was like, \u2018Get in the bathtub.\u2019 So she got in the bathtub and not even a minute later, she\u2019s like, \u2018Mom, the roof\u2019s gone,\u2019\u201d Kuntz told KFOR-TV.<\/p>\n

Fences and some equipment were knocked down at Vance Air Force Base, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) north of Oklahoma City. The base closed until further notice \u201cdue to ongoing power and water restoration efforts,\u201d it posted online Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease join me in praying for the Enid community, which has been severely impacted by tonight\u2019s tornado,\u201d Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt posted on social media.<\/p>\n

More storms are possible through Friday night across south-central and southeast Oklahoma, the National Weather Service in Norman said. Strong to severe thunderstorms are expected to develop Saturday, including in the Enid area.<\/p>\n

It was a stormy night for other states, too. In Kearney, Missouri, north of Kansas City, officials reported downed trees, debris blocking roadways and damage to homes on Thursday night after storms passed through the area. Officials said in a social media post that no injuries had been reported. Crews worked to make roads passable by early Friday and were expected to continue cleanup efforts during the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ENID, Okla. (AP) \u2014 A powerful tornado in Oklahoma ripped roofs off buildings and reduced others to rubble,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-625509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}