A powerful tornado raked through Enid, Oklahoma on Thursday night, reducing homes to rubble and injuring at least 10 people as a broader weather system unleashed more than a dozen reported twisters across the central United States.
The most destructive twister stayed on the ground for 30 minutes, carving a snaking path of devastation through the rural town of roughly 50,000 residents near Oklahoma's northern border. Emergency crews began surveying the damage at first light Friday, finding splintered wood and collapsed structures scattered throughout residential neighborhoods.
Video footage captured the violent wind funnels touching down and roaring across the landscape toward populated areas. The Garfield County Sheriff's Office reported no immediate fatalities, though residents were trapped inside damaged homes and required rescue by first responders. The county's emergency manager confirmed at least 10 people sustained minor injuries.
Enid Mayor David Mason said police and fire departments were coordinating search and rescue operations while urging residents to stay clear of the Gray Ridge area, where multiple houses had collapsed. He noted that community support was swift, with local businesses donating equipment and labor while residents opened their homes to those displaced.
One resident, Amy Kuntz, was driving home when the twister hit. Speaking by phone with her daughter, she instructed her to take shelter in a bathtub. Moments after the daughter climbed in, she told her mother: "The roof's gone."
The tornado also struck Vance Air Force Base in Enid. Base leadership immediately began accountability procedures to ensure all personnel were accounted for. The installation was ordered closed until further notice due to power and water restoration needs, with only mission essential staff required to report for duty to support critical operations.
The severe weather outbreak extended far beyond Oklahoma. By Friday morning, wildfires in Georgia had destroyed at least 87 homes, with two major blazes burning tens of thousands of acres fueled by drought conditions and high winds. The broader weather system threatens dangerous conditions across a 30-million-person swath of the country over the coming three days, as seasonal tornadoes are expected to spread into Illinois and surrounding regions.
Author James Rodriguez: "One twister grinding for 30 minutes through a town of 50,000 is the kind of event that reshapes a community, and these early reports barely capture what residents in Enid are now facing."
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