OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Three people are dead after at least eight confirmed tornadoes in Oklahoma Wednesday afternoon and evening.
“It appears, from what I’m looking at, we have two tornadoes on the ground,” said Mason Dunn, a pilot.
One of those tornadoes devastated the town of Cole, Oklahoma, about 30 miles south of Oklahoma City. The tornadoes leveled homes, uprooted trees, killed two, and left countless others trying to figure out where they go next.
“Look at that flagpole bent over with the American flag. What a site that is right there,” Dunn said.
To the northeast, in the town of Shawnee, Oklahoma Baptist University took a direct hit.
Roofs were torn off dorms, windows were blown out, and students’ cars torn apart.
“We could feel the tornado hit like we’re in the basement. And we felt the ground rattle and our ears were popping,” Sydney Bell, a student at Oklahoma Baptist University. “So, just it was a different feel to a storm when everyone was so scared because you had seen what it had done and what was forming, coming in.”
Fortunately, no one on campus was hurt.
“Within minutes, it just hits, the doors fly open and wind like gusting. All of a sudden, our ears are popping. We could hear, like, things falling and shattering and everything,” said Sarah Birkenholz, a senior at Oklahoma Baptist University.