Four fatalities, including a child, in Oklahoma tornado outbreak: NWS confirms EF-3 damage with winds exceeding 140 mph

After severe weather swept through Oklahoma on Wednesday evening, at least four individuals lost their lives as a result of tornadoes making landfall. Among the fatalities was a young child. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued multiple tornado warnings for various areas in central and southern parts of the state earlier that day. These alerts remained active throughout the evening, prompting residents to take cover until it became safe to emerge from their shelters once more.
As per preliminary reports released by authorities following an initial assessment of damage wrought upon impacted regions, one tornado struck southwest Oklahoma City in the area near Southwest 14th Street and South Western Avenue around 6:30 PM local time (CDT). Another twister hit rural Blaine County about ten miles north-northwest of Coyle at approximately 7:25 PM. The third tornado was recorded near Pauls Valley in Garvin, Kay, and Grady counties shortly before 8:15 PM.
The NWS has confirmed that the twister which touched down southwest Oklahoma City is an EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale of tornadic activity measurement. Winds associated with this storm are estimated to have reached speeds in excess of 140 miles per hour, while its path measured roughly two hundred yards wide and almost fifteen miles long before finally subsiding just southwest of the Oklahoma City suburb of Del City at around 7:35 PM local time (CDT).
In addition to these tornadoes, numerous other storms spawned off during this round of severe weather which hit several central U.S states hardest on Wednesday evening. These included thunderstorm winds and hailstones that left their mark in areas stretching from Kansas all the way through Texas. In total, more than a dozen different tornadoes have been confirmed as part of an extensive complex storm system over multiple states with more warnings still being issued for Thursday morning (CDT).
The NWS has also warned residents to remain vigilant and stay tuned for further updates regarding potential flash flooding in the wake of these severe weather events. With additional rainfall expected across a wide swath of central Oklahoma, officials have urged people living near rivers or other bodies of water prone to sudden surges during heavy downpours to exercise caution when making their way through floodwaters that could contain unseen debris and other hazards such as washed-out roads.