Tornadoes damage farms, kill two

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Authorities checking on a car stranded in a field Saturday morning found two people killed by a powerful storm that raked the state a day earlier with at least 17 tornadoes.

The Friday storm destroyed several buildings and injured at least six people, including one hospitalized in serious condition in Wichita, authorities said.

Several tornadoes touched down Saturday in northwestern Oklahoma. A twister destroyed three barns at a hog farm near Lacey in Kingfisher County, about 75 miles northwest of Oklahoma City, said Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Emergency Management Department.

No one at the farm was injured, and there were no immediate reports of injuries elsewhere — although the storm continued to pose a threat.

Ooten said the hog farm was considered a complete loss, and damage also was reported to a grain elevator on State Highway 132 in far northwestern Kingfisher County.

Kingfisher County Sheriff’s dispatcher Lonnie McDade said the only damage he knew of in that county was to the hog farm, along with some downed power lines.

“It’s all been out mostly in the countryside,” McDade said. “But that farm happened to be in the path and took a direct hit.”

Several other tornadoes touched down in nearby counties. Many were caught on television and appeared to dissipate within moments of touching down.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for several counties. A warning was issued before the earlier twisters.

The car the man and woman found dead Saturday were in was blown 150 yards off the highway they were on into a field about 13 miles east of Pratt, the Pratt County Sheriff’s Office said. Gary S. Whitlow, 33, and Kimberly S. Whitlow, 29, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Their the car, barely visible from the road, was destroyed by a twister that also swept a semi-truck off the highway and knocked down power poles and lines across the road.

A Kansas Highway Patrol aircraft flew along the path of the tornado on Saturday to make sure there were no other victims.