An metal truss electrical tower collapses after taking a direct strike from a powerful EF-5 tornado near Piedmont Oklahoma.
During the early evening of May 24, a long-tracked, violent, EF5 wedge tornado touched down in southwest Hinton, Oklahoma and produced extreme damage in rural portions of Caddo, Canadian, Kingfisher, and Logan counties, killing nine people and injuring 161 others along a 63-mile (101 km) long path.[13][14] EF5 damage to an oil rig near El Reno. Shortly after touching down in Caddo County, the tornado quickly became violent, debarking numerous trees as it crossed into Canadian County southwest of Calumet, and crossed Interstate 40 west of El Reno, reaching maximum intensity. Three people were killed as two vehicles were tossed more than 1,093 yards (999 m) from the road and obliterated, the victims being found stripped of clothing 1⁄4 mile ( km) from the interstate and left "unrecognizable". Only pieces of the vehicle's frames were reportedly recovered.[15][16][17] A nearby 20,000-pound (9,072 kg) oil tanker truck that was parked at an oil production site near the interstate was thrown approximately one mile ( km) into a wooded gully.[14][18] Several homes were swept completely away along Interstate 40, trees were completely debarked, and the ground was heavily scoured in some areas.[19][20] At the nearby Cactus-177 oil rig site, a 1,900,000-pound (861,830 kg) oil derrick was blown over and rolled three times. Due to the extreme nature of the damage at the Cactus-177 oil rig and along Interstate 40, damage in that area was rated EF5. The tornado passed north of El Reno and continued northeast, producing EF3 to EF4 damage in rural areas.[13][16] The tornado then passed northwest of Piedmont as a high-end EF4, leveling multiple homes and causing additional fatalities. The Falcon Lake subdivision was particularly hard hit, and multiple homes and vehicles were swept into the lake. One home had nothing left but the foundation slab and an above ground reinforced concrete shelter, which sustained damage to its metal door from debris
Size: 4272px × 2848px
Location: Piedmont, OK, United States
Photo credit: © Tomislav Stefanac / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: None
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