Deaths blamed on Okla. storms

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Thunderstorms pounded Oklahoma with heavy rain, large hail and wind up to 90 mph Wednesday, knocking out power to thousands of customers and contributing to two traffic deaths.

Oklahoma City firefighters were sent to rescue people who became stranded in their stalled cars after driving into high water. Maj. Brian Stanaland said flooding had affected several main thoroughfares through the heart of the city.

Oklahoma Gas and Electric said nearly 10,700 customers lost power in central Oklahoma, but more than half had electricity back by Wednesday evening.

Wind up to 88 mph was reported at Guthrie, just north of Oklahoma City.

Power lines and trees were blown down, some on top of cars, said Michelann Ooten, public information officer for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

One home and a city storage building were destroyed, and officials asked for emergency generators to run water and sewage plants, Ooten said. Roof damage was reported on Guthrie's community center, water plant and library.

More than 4 inches of rain fell in Guthrie, in the town of Spencer just east of Oklahoma City, and in Shawnee, the National Weather Service said.

A woman was killed in Tulsa when she was hit by a van while she examined damage to the car she had been riding in, which had hydroplaned on wet pavement and hit a retaining wall, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

In southwestern Oklahoma, a man died when his pickup truck ran off the road and hit a concrete culvert, troopers said.