Less than two weeks after a monster twister ripped through the city of Moore, the death toll from tornadoes that struck Oklahoma and neighbouring states this weekend has jumped to 12, authorities said today.
Twelve people were killed and 104 were injured, in Friday night's tornadoes and the resultant flash floods.
The Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office announced nine fatalities, while authorities in Missouri said three people died as a result of flooding there in the aftermath of the storms. More deaths due to flooding is feared.
The latest storms dumped up to 20 centimetres of rain on the Oklahoma City area, causing flash flooding that submerged parts of the sprawling metropolitan area that is home to more than 1.3 million people.
The tornadoes struck during the Friday evening rush hour and many of those hurt or killed were on the roadways.
The Oklahoma Highway patrol said a mother and her baby were killed while travelling on Interstate 40 highway, just west of Oklahoma City, when their car was picked up by the storm and they were sucked out of it.
One person died after he drove his vehicle off a washed out bridge in eastern Oklahoma County today morning, the Oklahoma County sheriff's office reported.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported death of a 69-year-old woman in Clearview, as she drowned yesterday morning after driving into the flooded Alabama Creek.
A rescue team from the Oklahoma City Fire Department recovered the body of a 4-year-old from the Oklahoma river, believed to be a member of missing family which took shelter under a bridge during the storms.
Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport sustained some water damage and saw numerous flight cancellations.
Seventeen tornadoes were reported in the Midwest, and more than 212,000 were without power across the region yesterday morning.
