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At least five dead in Oklahoma, Iowa as nighttime tornadoes strike

Top: Damage in the town of Sulphur, Okla., on Sunday after a series of severe storms and tornadoes swept through the area. Above: Sierra Fox, left, Kyle Wilcox and Kayla Wilcox begin recovery work on Kevin and Tracey Fox’s house in Minden, Iowa, on Saturday. (MICHAEL NOBLE JR.)
Top: Damage in the town of Sulphur, Okla., on Sunday after a series of severe storms and tornadoes swept through the area. Above: Sierra Fox, left, Kyle Wilcox and Kayla Wilcox begin recovery work on Kevin and Tracey Fox’s house in Minden, Iowa, on Saturday. (MICHAEL NOBLE JR.)
By Emmett Lindner, Judson Jones and Yan Zhuang New York Times

Severe thunderstorms and high winds over the weekend left at least five people dead in Oklahoma and Iowa, including an infant, as a series of tornadoes ripped through the Great Plains, authorities said.

As thunderstorms moved east Sunday, more than 4 million people in parts of five states – Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas – were under a tornado watch, meaning tornadoes were possible over the next few hours. There were also threats of wind damage and large hail, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

The tornadoes hit parts of Iowa on Friday and Oklahoma on Saturday. The cities of Sulphur, Holdenville and Ardmore, Oklahoma were especially hit hard, according to the National Weather Service.

A man died in Minden, Iowa, on Saturday, succumbing to storm-related injuries, Craig Carlsen, a spokesperson for Pottawattamie County, said by telephone Sunday.

Keli Cain, the public affairs director for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, said Sunday that the state’s medical examiner had confirmed two storm-related fatalities in Holdenville and another on Interstate 34, near Marietta.

At a news conference Sunday, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced that a fourth person had died, in Sulphur.

At least 100 other people were injured across the state, the department said.

At least 16 homes in Oklahoma were destroyed, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a briefing Sunday morning.

Nearly 30 tornadoes were reported across the region between Saturday afternoon and early Sunday, including some Saturday night in Kansas, Missouri and Texas, according to the weather service.

Tornadoes on Friday struck several areas of Nebraska and Iowa, where, in addition to the person who died, several people were injured as winds battered the region, officials said.

In Iowa, 270 homes and multiple structures were damaged or destroyed in Pottawattamie County, and about 25 homes were damaged or destroyed in Shelby County, according to FEMA.

At a news conference Saturday in Douglas County, Nebraska, where more than 150 homes were damaged, Chris Franks of the weather service described extensive damage from winds of up to 165 mph.

In Minden, Iowa, nearly 50 homes were completely destroyed, local officials said in a news release Sunday.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.