(Reuters) - More than 30 people were injured and dozens of buildings damaged when a tornado hit Tulsa early on Sunday, causing power outages to about 17,000 customers after powerful winds snapped utility poles and downed trees in the Oklahoma city, officials said.

The tornado flipped cars, ripped apart buildings and blew windows out of a high-rise building, images from local TV broadcaster KTUL showed.

Oklahoma emergency officials told local media there were no deaths from the tornado classified by the U.S. National Weather Service as an EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, meaning it had winds of about 125 miles per hour (200 kph).

Tornadoes coming in August and hitting at night are rare for Tulsa, the service said.

“The tornado that occurred did so suddenly and unexpectedly,” Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said in a Facebook post.

The Public Service Company of Oklahoma said as of Sunday afternoon, it had restored power to more than 11,000 customers. </s> TULSA, Okla. – The National Weather Service has confirmed the storm damage in Tulsa was caused by an EF-2 tornado that passed through the area late Saturday evening.

The tornado traveled through the area of 41st St. and I-44 causing heavy damage to multiple businesses including a hotel, shopping centers and the Remington Tower.

Power is currently out in most of the affected area.

The National Weather Service is currently on ground investigating the damage.

KFOR has a crew in Tulsa and will provide more information as it becomes available. </s> TULSA, Okla. (AP) - The Latest on tornados that struck in northeast Oklahoma (all times local):

Emergency management officials in northeast Oklahoma say one house was destroyed and almost 200 homes and businesses were damaged by a tornado that injured about 30 people near midtown Tulsa.

Tulsa Area Emergency Management Agency Director Roger Jolliff said Monday that 173 businesses and 25 homes were damaged by an EF2 twister that struck at 1:19 a.m. Sunday. Two businesses were condemned by city inspectors who were assessing the structural integrity of buildings damaged by the tornado.

Officials say the tornado had wind speeds of 120-130 mph (195-210 kph) and also damaged power poles and trees.

No injuries were reported later Sunday after two other tornadoes struck the southeast Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow and near Oologah, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) northeast of Tulsa.

The National Weather Service says three tornadoes struck northeast Oklahoma, including an EF2 twister that caused heavy damage and injured at least 30 people near midtown Tulsa.

Meteorologist Bart Haake said Monday that the Tulsa tornado touched down at 1:19 a.m. Sunday. Eight minutes later an EF1 tornado struck the southeast Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow and an EF1 tornado then touched down five minutes after that near Oologah, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) northeast of Tulsa.

No injuries are reported from the last two twisters.

Haake said the Tulsa tornado had wind speeds of 120-130 mph (195-210 kph) while the others had winds of 90-100 mph (145-160 kph).

St. Francis Hospital spokeswoman Lauren Landwerlin says about 30 people were treated at the hospital, including three in "non-critical" condition. </s> An EF-2 tornado struck midtown Tulsa overnight, injuring more than a dozen people and causing power outages and damage to businesses.

No deaths are reported following storms that struck shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday.

A City of Tulsa spokeswoman said at least 13 people were taken to hospitals in undisclosed condition.

A survey team with the National Weather Service in Tulsa was sent Sunday morning to determine whether severe thunderstorms did, in fact, spawn a tornado. After about two hours, the surveyors confirmed an EF-2 tornado had hit.

EF-2 tornadoes have wind speeds up to 135 miles per hour and will cause considerable damage.

Tornado sirens did not alert many Tulsans to the storm. The City of Tulsa said the storm intensified and moved too quickly after the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning, so by the time Tulsa crews could have activated the sirens, the storm was already into Broken Arrow.

The Tulsa Area Emergency Management Agency was able to warn Broken Arrow in time for that city's sirens to be activated.

The storms caused extensive damage to businesses along 41st Street starting at Yale Avenue. Firefighters had to rescue people from a heavily damaged TGI Friday's restaurant just west of Hudson Avenue, while the roof of a neighboring AT&T store collapsed.

Half the roof was torn off a Whataburger restaurant on 41st Street west of I-44. A large billboard was knocked down onto a small shopping center next to it.

The storm also damaged power poles and more than 11,000 customers were without power at one point. More than 9,000 remained without electricity Sunday morning.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol shut down I-44 between 41st Street and the Broken Arrow Expressway for a few hours Sunday morning to allow PSO to take care of several damaged utility poles. OHP said poles were leaning over the highway, and power lines were dropping below the 41st Street bridge over I-44.

National Weather Service meteorologist Amy Jankowski said tornadoes are generally associated with spring months and said an August tornado is uncommon, but not "outrageously rare." </s> (KFOR) Dozens were injured when a tornado tore through portions of Tulsa early Sunday morning.

“I’m in awe that we’re alive,” said Sally Mangles, who was staying at a hotel that was hit by the storm. “I thank the lord because I’ve just never seen this in real person. You see it on the movies, you see it on the news, but in real life it’s really bad.”

The National Weather Service confirmed the storm damage in Tulsa was at least EF-2.

The tornado caused heavy damage to shopping centers, a hotel and even the Remington Tower, where glass and office furniture were blown out of the building.

Several people were rescued after the tornado hit a restaurant.

“Pretty severe. Lacerations, pretty serious lacerations,” said Stan May with the Tulsa Fire Department. “That wall pretty much came in on them and when that happened, the ceiling dropped down.” </s> A tornado ripped through downtown Tulsa early Sunday, injuring at least 25 people and causing severe damage to many businesses.

The storm knocked down power lines, signs and trees, AccuWeather said. No deaths were reported from the storm that struck shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday.

A National Weather Service survey team rated the tornado as an EF-2, which has winds of 113-157 mph.

It was the first August tornado in Tulsa since 1958, Weather Chanel meteorologist Jonathan Erdman said.

All the injured have since been treated and released, according to Newson6.com.

Tulsa spokeswoman Kim Meloy said the timing of the storm helped because hundreds, if not thousands, of people were in the area only hours earlier.

“It’s a highly commercial area with a lot of people normally in there. There’s a mall, there’s a movie theater, a TGI Fridays,” Meloy told the Associated Press.

More than 12,000 customers had lost power Sunday morning, the Public Service Company of Oklahoma said. That number was down to about 4,000 by mid-afternoon Sunday.

Elsewhere, drenching rain led to widespread flooding in New Orleans on Saturday, when up to 10 inches of rain overwhelmed storm drains, NOLA.com said. </s> An uncommon August tornado struck Tulsa early Sunday, damaging buildings, toppling utility poles and injuring around 30 people, authorities said.

No deaths were reported when the tornado struck at around 1:30 a.m. (2:30 a.m. ET) The National Weather Service said it confirmed damage from an EF-2 tornado in the central part of the city.

Eight people were hospitalized after a TGI Fridays restaurant collapsed, trapping people inside.

"It completely collapsed right on top of everybody so it's, it's lucky that people came out with their lives," restaurant manager Zane McCollough said.

More than 14,000 people in the Tulsa area lost power at one point due to the tornado and severe storms, utility provider Public Service Company of Oklahoma said. Around 125 utility poles were broken or damaged.

The city’s warning sirens did not sound before the tornado struck. Tulsa Area Emergency Management Director Roger Jolliff described it as a fast-moving storm that left little time for warning.

"To have warned we would have been warning after the fact, which would have not been the right thing to do," Jolliff said.

He said that after the deadly tornado in Joplin, Missouri in 2011, a study showed that some residents did not initially heed warning sirens because of what was perceived as past false alarms, and emergency managers are reluctant to sound sirens too often.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2011 did find that many residents interviewed after that deadly tornado said the first siren did not immediately trigger concern because of what was perceived as past false alarms.

The E-5 Joplin tornado that struck on May 22, 2011, killed 159 people and injured more than 1,000 others. It was the seventh-deadliest tornado in U.S. history.

The Tulsa Fire Department said 13 people were transported to hospitals, including a firefighter who was burned in a house fire. A spokesperson for St. Francis Hospital said the medical center received 30 patients with minor injuries like lacerations, and most had been released by Sunday afternoon.

National Weather Service meteorologist Amy Jankowski told the Associated Press that while tornadoes can strike any time, they are generally associated with the spring months.

"I wouldn't say outrageously rare, but it is uncommon," to see an August tornado, Jankowski said.

Crews were clearing streets Sunday and Tulsa Police Sgt. Shane Tuell warned people to stay out of damaged areas if possible.

"Right now we’re still identifying dangerous areas of power lines, gas leaks that are in the area, and other debris that can still cause severe injury to individuals," he said.

Elliott Wilson, franchise owner of the bed and mattress store Mattress Firm, assessed the damage to his store Sunday.

"There’s definitely going have to be some tile and carpet repaired," Wilson said. "Yeah, it’s going to keep us down for a little bit." </s> EL RENO, Okla. -- A powerful EF-3 tornado tore through a city in Oklahoma, killing at least two people and injuring at least 29, authorities said. Some of the injured are in critical condition.

A mobile home park in El Reno was "devastated," Mayor Matt White said.

"It's a lot of devastation here, it's leveled, it's just devastated, White said in a phone interview with CNN. "It's tore all to pieces, it was terrible."

Officials were going door to door to find victims and assess the damage after it touched down in the city late Saturday night. A search and rescue operation is still underway, White said at a press conference Sunday morning.

El Reno, with a population of about 19,000, is about 29 miles west of Oklahoma City.

Rachel Garrison was in a mobile home when the storm hit, according to CNN affiliate KOCO.

"I heard it coming," she told the station.

The next thing she felt, Garrison said, was another trailer flipping over onto the one her family was in.

"After everything was over with and all the shaking and jarring, the sirens went off," Garrison told the station.

The park had 88 mobile homes, White said, and "We're looking at basically under 15, under 16 trailers were the ones involved in the tornado."

The mayor said the sirens went off at 10:27 p.m., and according to the information he had, the storm touched down four minutes later.

In addition to the mobile home park, a hotel was damaged, Fire Chief Kent Lagaly said.

All guests have been accounted for, the hotel's owner Ramesh Patel said. One employee broke a leg and is being treated at a hospital, he said.

The tornado was rated EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, said on Twitter after completing its survey of the damage in El Reno. The twister lasted only 4 minutes, the service said.

Only about 5% of all tornadoes are rated EF-3 or higher, according to CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller. An EF-3 rating indicates maximum wind speeds of 160 mph.

The tornado hit as Oklahoma and other parts of the Midwest were still reeling from a deadly spring storm system that has resulted in more than 170 reported tornadoes plus strong winds, flash flooding and hail.

In Oklahoma, two people died in the flooding and storms, and 87 others were injured, the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said in a press release. Across the central US, 10 people were killed and a 4-year-old boy is missing.

On Friday, a state official said floods were believed to have impacted at least 1,000 homes, especially in northeastern Oklahoma around the swollen Arkansas River.

Gov. Kevin Stitt on Friday amended an earlier executive order to declare a state of emergency in all 77 counties across the state due to the severe weather. </s> (Reuters) - A tornado devastated a small community near Oklahoma City late on Saturday, killing at least two people and injuring several more, officials said, as a succession of violent storms kept pounding the Central Plain states.

The twister struck El Reno, Oklahoma, at about 10:30 p.m. local time (0330 GMT), turning a hotel and mobile home park into a debris field and sending first responders on a desperate search for survivors, the city’s mayor said.

“It’s a pretty devastating sight,” El Reno Mayor Matt White said on Sunday in a news briefing. “We can tell you right now that we’re assessing everything and we are all hands on deck.”

Calling the damage to his community about 25 miles (40 km) west of Oklahoma City “horrific,” White said an unknown number of people suffered serious injuries and that rescuers had hand-sifted through the rubble during the night in search of others.

The two people killed by the storm were not immediately identified because their next of kin had yet to be notified, the mayor said.

The National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, identified the tornado on its radar late on Saturday in one of several warnings it issued.

It was the latest in a string of violent storms that have raked Central Plains states from the Texas Panhandle north to Iowa, since last week. At least seven people were killed by those storms.

In addition, heavy rainfall over the past week has swollen several rivers, causing flooding and evacuations in Oklahoma and Missouri.
An EF-2 tornado strikes Tulsa, Oklahoma, injuring 30 people and damaging dozens of buildings.