April 27 (UPI) — At least one person is dead in southwest Oklahoma after severe weather battered the region over the weekend, and state and local officials warned people to avoid travel.
“Emergency responders reported witnessing a vehicle driving into standing water earlier today,” a statement Saturday from the Lawton Police Department said. “Responders were not able to safely get to the submerged vehicle.”
Gov. Kevin Stitt cautioned travelers to respect dangerous conditions and stay aware of severe weather. He said emergency crews executed water rescues throughout the day on Saturday, and warned residents about the dangers of flash flooding brought on by heavy downpours.
“Oklahomans, be extra careful when driving and don’t drive through flooded roads. Stay weather aware!” he posted on X.
Rescue divers retrieved the body from Saturday’s accident, Lawton police said, and added in a Facebook post that high water had started to recede Sunday afternoon, though creeks and streams were still out of their banks in parts of the affected area.
Further south in Oklahoma, officials issued evacuation orders in affected flood zones as floodwaters continued to rise near the town of Walters, and emergency response crews continued sandbagging in the area.
The severe weather is forecast to expand into the deep south and up to the Midwest at the beginning of the workweek, with as many as 36 million people in a band stretching from Texas to Michigan facing severe weather, including those in Minneapolis, Chicago and Oklahoma City, according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.
Those storms carry the potential for large hail, tornadoes and damaging straight line winds, the SPC projected.
