A 12-year-old boy and a woman were killed in Oklahoma after their vehicle was swept under a bridge amid a severe storm system that brought large hail and strong winds to a region spanning from the South to the Northeast.
Police in Moore, Oklahoma, about 11 miles south of Oklahoma City, said they conducted a water rescue involving two vehicles stranded in floodwaters Saturday night, but were only able to rescue two occupants after one of the vehicles left the roadway and was swept under the bridge.
“This was a historical weather event that impacted roads & caused dozens of high-water incidents across the city,” the Moore Police Department said.
Elsewhere in the region, nearly 30 severe weather reports came in on Saturday, including two unconfirmed tornadoes in Jacksboro and Sterling City, Texas. The federal storm prediction center also said three supercells, which are capable of producing powerful tornadoes, were reported in north Texas on Saturday.
Video shared on social media showed a severe storm cloud passing through Cumberland, Maryland, on Saturday night, triggering power flashes.
On Easter Sunday, storms are expected to march east, shifting the threat to 11 million people in Little Rock, Arkansas; St. Louis; and Springfield, Illinois. All modes of severe weather are possible, including damaging wind gusts, severe thunderstorms, large hail and a few tornadoes, especially across Missouri and Arkansas, according to the National Weather Service.
“Current expectations are for robust thunderstorms to develop along/near the front across eastern Oklahoma and vicinity by early afternoon,” the weather service said, adding that the system will intensify relatively quickly as it moves east toward Arkansas and Missouri. This means the threat of damaging winds and 111 mph and up (EF2) tornadoes will increase Sunday afternoon and night.
The National Weather Service field office in Little Rock said the greatest risk of tornadoes Sunday is in northern Arkansas, including Conway and Batesville.
In Missouri, the weather service warns that strong winds up to 70 mph, hail 2 inches in diameter and tornadoes are possible near St. Louis.
Severe thunderstorm warnings have been issued across Arkansas and Missouri.
The threat of flooding also continues Sunday, with 11 million people still under flood alerts from Texas to Illinois. Rainfall totals can range from 3 to 5 inches, with up to 7 inches possible in some areas.
Over 100,000 utility customers remained without power across the South and the Northeast as of Sunday morning, including almost 34,000 in West Virginia and over 18,000 in Texas, according to PowerOutage.us.
Insiya Gandhi contributed.
