Tornadoes, Flooding, and Other Severe Storms Impact 5 States

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Multiple storms, including 15 tornadoes, ravaged parts of the Midwest earlier this week as well as early Wednesday. According to CBN News, a monster tornado touched down and destroyed several homes and businesses in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Employees working at a Hampton Inn witnessed the moment when a storm hit the hotel.

Meanwhile, one family in Barnsdall, Oklahoma managed to escape their home after one tornado moved through their neighborhood. A nursing home in Barnsdall was also hit.

"Please pray for us,” the 38-bed facility wrote on social media.

Fortunately, all residents survived with no injuries or deaths, but they were temporarily relocated to a football field due to a gas leak.

According to the National Weather Service, there were at least 15 tornadoes overnight, including at least 7 in northern Oklahoma.

Over in Texas, people are beginning to clean up as the waters recede following major flooding from heavy rain last weekend. Hundreds of people in the Houston area ended up being rescued from their homes.

Governor Greg Abbott announced at least three people died due to the severe storms, including a child swept away by floodwaters. Meanwhile, ninety-one counties declared a state of disaster.

Moreover, thousands of power outages were reported across the Midwest. As reported by the Associated Press, two tornadoes struck one city in Michigan and destroyed homes and commercial buildings, including a FedEx facility.

Tornadoes were first reported after Tuesday night in parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, while portions of Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri were also under a tornado watch, per the National Weather Service. The storms arrived a day after one severe twister ripped through an Oklahoma town.

Over in Michigan, over 30,000 customers were without power early Wednesday, and an additional 10,000 were without power in Ohio, according to PowerOutage.us.

“My heart goes out to all those impacted by tonight’s severe weather in southwest Michigan,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a message on social media. “State and local emergency teams are on the ground and working together to assist Michiganders.”

Whitman also declared a state of emergency for four counties.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Jason Persoff Stormdoctor

Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.