String of tornadoes hits Midwest; more than 100 homes destroyed

Associated Press WriterCORDELL, Okla. (AP) -- Emergency crews and residents began cleaning up Wednesday after a series of tornadoes tore across the Plains, severely damaging more than 100 homes and leaving tons of debris.

No serious injuries were reported after a twister leveled homes, toppled power lines and tossed cars like toys Tuesday afternoon. Most of the damaged homes were in Cordell, a town of 3,000 in western Oklahoma, but six tornadoes also caused damage in central Nebraska late Tuesday.

"To see some of the devastation and some of the houses that just disappeared, it surprised me that we haven't had serious injuries, much less fatalities," said Robert Parsons, sheriff's deputy in Oklahoma's Washita County. "I'm just amazed at it."

By Wednesday, 20 people who had been reported as unaccounted-for late Tuesday had been found.

Five people, including an infant, were released from a hospital after being treated for injuries from flying glass and debris. One man, who was in a house when the roof collapsed, was transferred to another hospital for further tests.

Utility crews worked all night to fix fallen power lines. The damaged part of the town remained without power Wednesday.

Public schools had closed before the tornado hit. At least one of the school buildings was damaged, Parsons said.

"We will be allowing residents back into the damaged area today to clean up," Parsons said. "Basically they will try to find what they can and salvage it."

Gov. Frank Keating was to visit the town and survey the damage later Wednesday.

City Administrator Bob Lambert, whose own home was hit hard, believes the sirens that sounded moments before the tornado hit town saved countless lives.

"They understand when it blows, find shelter," Lambert said. "We don't cry wolf."

Officers found one man covered in mud and wandering down a street. He had been driving his car when the tornado hit, rolling the vehicle and tossing him about 250 feet, police said.

Another man, Elmo Maddox, 72, climbed into the cellar of his daughter's farmhouse just seconds before the tornado hit.

"When we shut that cellar door, it was right on us," Maddox said. "This was the worst I'd ever seen." He described seeing two tornadoes merge into one system that seemed to be a mile wide.

S.L. Anthony and his wife crouched in a closet as the tornado passed their apartment in Cordell.

"I held onto her," Anthony said. "The walls around us blew off."

When they emerged, Anthony stared out at a debris-littered field that used to hold a metal building where he often played pool with friends.

Some pieces of the building were stuck in a tree, boards had lodged in a metal trailer that was tipped on its side, and a pickup truck that had been inside the building was flipped over in a field about 50 feet away.

At the Daycare Depot, a group of children huddled in a room built with 3-foot concrete walls and a steel door. The center was slightly damaged, but no one inside was injured.

Authorities had barricaded the hard-hit southeastern part of town by nightfall, allowing only residents with a police permit to pass. People streamed out of the area, carrying sacks of belongings.

While tornadoes typically occur in the spring in Oklahoma, they aren't uncommon in the fall. In 1998, about a dozen tornadoes swept through the state on Oct. 4.

In Nebraska, at least a dozen farm homes in Polk County were destroyed or damaged, according to early estimates.

"You can't go anywhere at an angle here and find a farm that isn't damaged," area resident Kent Adelson said.