Remnants of Hermine Move North, Buffeting Oklahoma

Staff and Wire Reports

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A severe thunderstorm packing heavy rain and strong winds blew over a tractor-trailer rig, damaged structures and brought down electrical power lines Wednesday as remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine moved into Oklahoma.

A brief tornado also touched down near the Red River, but there were no reports of injuries or damage.

In Durant, police said a tractor-trailer rig driver was transported to a hospital after his truck overturned on U.S. 69 near Colbert. His condition was not immediately known.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said the highway was closed after a possible tornado or a microburst, strong downward winds from a collapsing thunderstorm, moved through the area about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. Troopers said the highway reopened more than five hours later after utility crews cleared downed lines off the highway.

A Durant dispatcher said at least two homes were damaged.

"We're thinking it was a microburst, but eyewitnesses are saying otherwise. We're still investigating," said Miles Gooding, safety officer with the Bryan County Emergency Management Department.

Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Michelann Ooten said power lines were knocked down near Colbert. Oklahoma Gas and Electric reported more than 2,000 outages, mostly in Colbert, at one point but that number had dwindled to fewer than 400 by Wednesday night.

Sid Sperry, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives, said Western Farmers Cooperative lost about 15 single-pole transmission lines in Bryan County that feed power to customers of the Southeastern Electric Cooperative. Sperry said service was expected to be restored to all but about 150 customers by late Wednesday.

Rainfall amounts varied widely, with some of the higher amounts including 2 inches in Hugo; 2.96 in Waurika; 3.8 in the Ardmore area; 4.1 inches in Burneyville; 4.69 in Washington; and 5.09 in Acme in Grady County.

The National Weather Service said the leading edge of Hermine's remnants moved into Love, Carter and Marshall counties by early afternoon.

A flash flood warning was issued for Garvin, Grady and McClain counties, south of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Flood watches were in effect for the eastern half of the state through Thursday morning.

While the main danger appeared to be flooding, tornadic activity was also a concern, Ooten said.

A tornado touched down briefly about six miles south of Marietta near Oklahoma's border with Texas, the weather service said. There were no reports of injuries or damage, authorities said.

Another tornado was reported near Lone Grove around 7 p.m. No damage was reported.

Tornado warnings also were issued for Choctaw, McCurtain and Pushmataha counties, but no tornadoes were immediately confirmed and there were no reports of injuries or damage.

A tornado watch remained in effect for 18 counties in southern Oklahoma until early Thursday.

"People in Oklahoma, and people around the nation, think of spring as the primary hazardous weather season, and it is, but what a lot people don't realize is that there is a secondary storm season in Oklahoma, and that is in September and October," Ooten said.