At Least One Tornado Touches Down As Storms Hit Oklahoma
OWASSO, Oklahoma (CBSNewYork) -- Severe storms were moving across Oklahoma Wednesday night, and the National Weather Service confirmed that at least one tornado touched down.
As CBS2's Valerie Castro reported, cellphone video captured a terrifying scene as lightning flashed across the dark sky. Homes were overshadowed by an enormous tornado looming in the distance.
The video was taken from a vehicle, and the person driving was a storm chaser trying to navigate out of the path of destruction.
More From CBS Affiliate KOTV-TV, Tulsa
At a safe distance, he pointed out exactly where the tornado had formed, near Claremore, Oklahoma just northeast of Tulsa.
"There's the cone -- it's on the ground," the storm chaser is heard saying. "The tornado is on the ground."
From the air, a news helicopter was seen tracking the path of a tornado near Owasso, Oklahoma. Transformers were also seen sparking as the storm system passed over power lines, CBS News reported.
Another angle showed the tornado tearing through a residential area, as debris flies up into the air.
In another area, farm buildings were shredded by the winds, and later on, power lines were seen flashing as the tornado shook them down.
Emergency officials tweeted that they had transported at least nine people to the hospital for weather-related reasons, and that most calls were for serious injuries.
Weather-related calls resulted in 9 patients transported so far tonight. Most calls were for serious injuries & one critical patient. #EMSA
— EMSAOK (@EMSAOK) March 31, 2016
The extent of the damage was still unclear late Wednesday.