Tornadoes and flooding from severe thunderstorms ravaged parts of Oklahoma overnight, injuring six people and destroying homes and other property.

Six people were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, said Valerie Littlejohn, public information officer for the Oklahoma City Police Department.

Several structures were damaged in the area, as well as power lines, trees, gas lines, traffic lights and street signs, she said.

National Weather Service crews are assess the damage Sunday, particularly in the town of Valley Brook, where storms caused serious damage.

National Weather Service crews are assessing the damage Sunday morning. (KOCO via CNN Newsource)

Video of the damage KOCO, CNN affiliate shows overturned cars and entire houses torn to shreds. The storms toppled telephone poles and broke trees in two. Debris is scattered around the affected areas, including large pieces of wood and metal from destroyed buildings.

About 50,000 customers in Oklahoma remained without power Sunday morning, according to poweroutage.us.

Tornadoes were reported just east of Oklahoma City, and tornado and thunderstorm warnings were in effect early in the morning in the Oklahoma City area, on weather service said.

Residents and local authorities who saw the damage Sunday morning are now preparing for new storms expected Sunday and Monday.

“Friends, don’t let your guard down too much – we’re already starting to see the atmosphere begin to recover ahead of another round of thunderstorms, heavy rain, flooding and possible severe weather today,” the weather service said. an article on X.

THE Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said he was monitoring severe weather.

Flooding on Interstate 35 closed all but one northbound lane near Forest Park in the Oklahoma City area. Oklahoma Department of Transportation said.

Police are asking people to avoid certain roads in the area due to the damage.

First responders rescued two people trapped in an overturned mobile home after the storms, according to the Oklahoma City Fire Department. They also responded to several vehicles that were flooded due to heavy rain, according to the department’s public information officer, Scott Douglas.

Around 1:20 a.m., the weather service warned a severe thunderstorm accompanied by a tornado was moving through eastern Oklahoma City toward Midwest City and Tinker Air Force Base. A tornado warning was issued for more than 300,000 people in Moore, Midwest City and Del City.

‘I was awake and I heard it real quick,’ Justin Cue describing the moment a possible tornado hit his father’s house overnight, leaving him with minor injuries from broken glass and debris .

“Debris started hitting the house and after a few seconds my window blew out and all you could hear was the roar of the wind and torn wood and broken glass,” Cue told CNN.

Cue’s father, who moved to Oklahoma City from Kansas about two years ago, was also injured when the roof collapsed on him.

“He was unconscious for a brief moment and we weren’t sure if he was okay,” Cue said.

When the two men were able to get out of the house around 1:30 a.m., Cue said neighbors were screaming and helping pull people out of the rubble until first responders arrived.

The University of Oklahoma has asked students and staff at its Normandy campus to “seek shelter NOW inside the building you are in.” Move to the lowest floor/interior. »

Nighttime tornadoes are twice as deadly as daytime tornadoes, research shows. Nighttime tornadoes are difficult to spot in the dark and those who are sleeping may not realize danger is near.

There is increased worry on the tornado threat this week, given how prolific the year has been for tornadoes in the United States. The number of tornadoes reported so far this year is the second highest on record, trailing only 2,156 in 2011.

Severe thunderstorms are more common in spring and summer, but a second wave of dangerous storms and tornadoes occurs in fall and winter, when cold air from the north often collides with outgoing warmer, moist air of the Gulf of Mexico.