5 dead in Oklahoma after tornadoes hit Midwest

Tornadoes killed five people in Oklahoma overnight Saturday, and residents in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa were bracing for more dangerous weather late Sunday afternoon and evening, CNN reported.

The dead included a father and his two children, who were killed in their trailer in Woodward, Okla., and two people who were killed in a car in the same town, according to CNN. Some 37 people were injured in Woodward after the storm hit the town of 12,000 shortly after midnight.

Storm sirens in Woodward reportedly did not go off after lightning damaged the warning system, Woodward's mayor said, according to Reuters.

And more storms were predicted for the Midwest later Sunday. Weather forecasters said additional "significant" tornadoes would hit southeast Minnesota, Wisconsin and northeast Iowa later Sunday afternoon, Reuters reported.

The tornadoes reported across the Midwest and Plains on Saturday and early Sunday damaged houses, a hospital, a jail, an Air Force base and other buildings around the region, the Associated Press quoted officials as saying.

Parts of the US Midwest had been warned to brace for "life-threatening" weather overnight Saturday, as a series of severe thunderstorms whipped up tornados in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.

Most of the reported tornadoes were either short-lived or struck largely rural areas, however, causing only minor damage, according to The New York Times.

A large part of the small Iowan town of Thurman was wiped out, and a hospital destroyed, but no deaths and only minor injuries were reported.

The Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston, a town of 7,800 about 75 miles outside Des Moines, sustained roof damage.

The town’s mayor, Warren Woods, told Newsnet5 that about half the city was without power, and there were numerous trees and power lines down.

According to Fox News, homes and businesses were damaged when a tornado touched down in Woodward, Okla. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency for 12 Oklahoma counties, including for Woodward, CNN reported. School in Woodward was cancelled for Monday due to storm damage, NewsOK reported.

According to Fox, the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, which specializes in tornado forecasting, said that the outbreak could be a "high-end, life-threatening event" nearly two days before the weather hit.

It was only the second time the center had ever issued a high-risk warning more than 24 hours in advance.

The first was in 2006, when nearly 100 tornadoes tore across the southeastern US, killing a dozen people.

And a reported tornado caused widespread power outages and other damage, including to housing and at an Air Force Base, in Wichita, Kansas.