2 confirmed dead in Oklahoma as tornadoes hit Plains

Tornadoes destroyed homes, overturned vehicles and stripped the bark from trees as they churned across Oklahoma, part of a strong series of storms that hit the Plains.
At least two people died in weather so violent that forecasters declared a "tornado emergency" for communities in the path of one of the twisters.
"You are in a life-threatening situation," forecasters declared while warning the communities of Roff, population 725, and Hickory, population 71, which were ultimately spared major damage. "Flying debris will be deadly to those caught without shelter."
Dana Lance was driving through the Pontotoc County community of Roff on her way home from work yesterday when the skies grew ominous, sirens wailed and forecasters on the radio told people to take cover.

"I parked and went into the school, which has a safe room," Lance said. "There were kids and elderly people, dogs and cats, babies. It was like the whole town was there."
In nearby Murray County, where Hickory is located, emergency management director Gary Ligon said one person was injured.

Garvin County officials said a man believed to be in his upper 70s died when another tornado hit a home near Wynnewood, south of Oklahoma City. That storm, caught on video by several storm chasers, appeared white against the dark clouds of a supercell storm. In Johnston County, the sheriff's office said a man was killed by a tornado near Connerville.

The Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management reported the storms destroyed a radio station building in Coal County and an undetermined number of homes in Murray, Garvin and Johnston counties.
The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, had warned of a substantial tornado risk and said Arkansas could see tornadoes overnight yesterday.
The bad weather should settle in the Ohio and Tennessee valleys today, forecasters said, while another storm system should bring storms to the area from north Texas to near St Louis tomorrow.
In Hugo, near the Red River, Charles Webb piled one of his dogs and one of his cats in the laundry room yesterday and hunkered down as the storm came over his house, clipping trees and spinning up debris. Webb said he emerged from his home minutes later to see blue skies.

"We're real lucky, but we've been lucky for a lot of years, fortunately," Webb said yesterday.