An EF-2 tornado struck midtown Tulsa overnight, injuring more than a dozen people and causing power outages and damage to businesses.
No deaths are reported following storms that struck shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday.
At least 13 people were taken to hospitals, two with life-threatening injuries.
A survey team with the National Weather Service in Tulsa was sent Sunday morning to determine whether severe thunderstorms did, in fact, spawn a tornado. After about two hours, the surveyors confirmed an EF-2 tornado had hit.
EF-2 tornadoes have wind speeds up to 135 miles per hour and will cause considerable damage.
Tornado sirens did not alert many Tulsans to the storm. The City of Tulsa said the storm intensified and moved too quickly after the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning, so by the time Tulsa crews could have activated the sirens, the storm was already into Broken Arrow.
The Tulsa Area Emergency Management Agency was able to warn Broken Arrow in time for that city's sirens to be activated.
The storms caused extensive damage to businesses along 41st Street starting at Yale Avenue. Firefighters had to rescue people from a heavily damaged TGI Friday's restaurant just west of Hudson Avenue, while the roof of a neighboring AT&T store collapsed.
Half the roof was torn off a Whataburger restaurant on 41st Street west of I-44. A large billboard was knocked down onto a small shopping center next to it.
The storm also damaged power poles and more than 11,000 customers were without power at one point. More than 9,000 remained without electricity Sunday morning.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol shut down I-44 between 41st Street and the Broken Arrow Expressway for a few hours Sunday morning to allow PSO to take care of several damaged utility poles. OHP said poles were leaning over the highway, and power lines were dropping below the 41st Street bridge over I-44.
National Weather Service meteorologist Amy Jankowski said tornadoes are generally associated with spring months and said an August tornado is uncommon, but not "outrageously rare."
