Wild Weather Across The Nation
It was the house Ron Keef and his wife had always wanted: a spacious brick home in an upscale housing subdivision, tucked in the northeast corner of the city.
"When we saw it, it was more than we could afford but we said, 'This is it.' It had all these beautiful trees, beautiful trees," said Keef, an Oklahoma City police detective.
Rain still falling in Boston |
At least 20 people, including 17 at a theme park off Interstate 35, were injured. No deaths were reported. Officials said at least 50 homes and businesses were destroyed or had major damage, and 234 had minor damage.
"We saw the funnel cloud," said Carol Dell, who was at the park. "We were scared when we saw the tornado."
"I was just so scared," said Stephanie Niafeh, another person at the amusement park. "This was my first tornado. I was just praying [to] make it through. I was just so scared."
The twisters appeared to have cut a 10-mile long swath across the city's northern tier, uprooting trees, spewing glass, and battering anything tall in their way.
"While some of the damage is significant, the important thing is there were no major injuries or loss of life," Gov. Frank Keating said.
Twister damage in Kansas |
Storms in southern Nebraska and northeast Kansas also spawned tornadoes Saturday. Only minor injuries were reported.
In Elwood, Neb., a twister damaged buildings on nine farmsteads. And in Sabetha, Kan., a tornado plucked trees from the ground along two blocks of Main Street.
Storm damage in Kansas |
. The deluge that swamped Massachusetts during the weekend was blamed, at least in part, for four deaths, including the drowning of a kayaker.
The National Weather Service continued flood warnings for mucof eastern Massachusetts and southeast Worcester County, and said some places may get an additional 4 inches of rain by Tuesday morning.
Sand bagging in Boston |
The storm washed out rainfall records for June in Boston, and forecasters warned to brace for more rain Monday night and Tuesday.
Flooding in Boston |
The storm set a new record for any 24-hour period in June in Boston - a total of 5.99 inches between Saturday and Sunday, topping the previous record of 5.35 inches in 1875.
Record New England rains |
In Boston, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, whose own basement was flooded, declared a state of emergency Saturday. That was lifted Sunday.
States of emergency also had been declared in the Massachusetts towns of Beverly, Revere, Everett, Needham, Salem, and Newton.
New England storms |