Oklahoma town struck by 2 tornadoes in nearly 48 hours
A tornado swept through the town of Seminole, Oklahoma Wednesday evening, leaving a trail of destruction in a town that was still cleaning up from a tornado just 48 hours prior.
Aerial view shows tornado damage in Seminole, Oklahoma
A tornado moved through Seminole, Oklahoma, causing damage Wednesday evening. Helicopter footage from KWTV/KOTV gives the aerial view.
SEMINOLE, Okla. -- A mile-wide tornado swept through the town of Seminole, Oklahoma Wednesday evening, leaving a trail of destruction in a town that was still cleaning up from a tornado just about 48 hours prior.
Aerial footage from KWTV-KOTV in Oklahoma City showed significant damage to some homes and businesses with trees and power lines down over a 31-mile-long track that included parts of Seminole.
A stormy survey team with the National Weather Service determined the tornado began in the town of Maude just before 7:30 p.m. CDT and left a trail of damage as it tracked north/northeast across Seminole County, into the eastside of downtown Seminole.
There, the twister caused extensive damage to buildings, including ripping off roofs and blasting exterior walls. Damage included the Academy of Seminole, which took a direct hit from the tornado.
There were people at the school that evening, but everyone weathered the storm with no injuries.
The tornado eventually moved off to the northeast, causing sporadic damage in rural areas before crossing into Okfuskee County and dissipating near Castle 50 minutes after it began.
At least 12,000 people in the region were without power at the peak of the storm, according to PowerOutage.us.
The survey team determined the tornado was as much as a mile-wide at times and damage was consistent with 125 mph winds, rating an EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
Town hit by 2nd tornado within 48 hours
The tornado game almost exactly two days after another tornado swept through Seminole.
Seminole, Oklahoma, hit by two tornadoes within last 48 hours
A tornado swept through the town of Seminole, Oklahoma Wednesday evening, leaving a trail of destruction in a town that was still cleaning up from a tornado just about 48 hours prior.
Some mobile homes sustained significant damage at the Hidden Hills Trailer Park.
The park owner was able to get all residents to a storm shelter and no one was injured.
Tornado-warned storm leaves path of damage in Oklahoma, trees uprooted
FOX Weather’s Hunter Davis shows damage in Seminole, Oklahoma where a tornado-warned storm damaged mobile homes and uprooted trees.
The National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma gave the tornado an EF-1 rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with estimated peak winds of 100-110 mph.
Wednesday's tornado as one of six tornadoes storm survey teams have confirmed so far.
The strongest was an EF-3 tornado that hit the Lockett and Crowell areas of Texas late Wednesday evening. Survey teams estimated the peak wind at 140 mph and noted that six metal electrical transmission poles were bent nearly to the ground.
The National Weather Service said metal power poles bent almost down to the ground due to and EF-3 tornado.
(National Weather Service)
Two tornadoes hit the Earlsboro area, one at 8:28 p.m. CDT rated a EF-2 and a second a minute later starting in nearly the same spot rated an EF-1. An EF-1 tornado struck Brooksville and caused some tree damage along US-177, and another tornado went through Cromwell in Seminole County but NWS isn't surveying that storm yet, only going off spotter and radar data to determine a tornado occurred. It has yet to be rated.