() –– In a preliminary count of tornadoes that occurred in the afternoon and evening this Friday, the Storm Prediction Center recorded nine in Texas, four in Arkansas and one in Oklahoma, for a total of 15.
At this time, one person is reported dead in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, according to Emergency Manager Cody McDaniel. In a phone conversation, McDaniel told that he is looking for “multiple missing people” and injuries after a possible tornado tore through the county. “It’s not good” he pointed out and added that they are trying to control the situation. McCurtain is located in the southeastern part of the state.
An injured woman was also reported in Choctaw County, Oklahoma, near the Texas border. According to Lewis Collins, a volunteer with the Choctaw Office of Emergency Management, a tree fell on the woman as she was heading to a storm shelter. Collins says that she was immobilized for a short time. There were officials near her who were able to free her.
Most of the nine tornadoes in Texas occurred along the Red River border with Oklahoma. At the moment, widespread damage is reported in Lamar County, Texas, just west of Paris, and in Sulfur Springs in Hopkins County, Texas. Significant damage also occurred in Isabell, in McCurtain County, Oklahoma.
For its part, the city of New Boston, Texas, began to clean up the damage left by Friday’s storms, Mayor Ron Humphrey told . “Trees down, roofs ripped off and some houses with more damage,” Humphrey said by email. “So far I haven’t had any reports of injuries.” New Boston is west of the Texarkana area along Interstate 30, next to the Red River Army Depot.
With information from ‘s Amanda Musa and Andy Rose.