More violent thunderstorms have roared across middle America, killing seven people in two states, with several tornadoes touching down in Oklahoma and high winds pounding rural Kansas.
The high-powered storms arrived as forecast on Tuesday, just two days after a massive tornado tore through the southwest Missouri town of Joplin and killed 122 people.
Several tornadoes struck Oklahoma's capital, Oklahoma City, and its suburbs during rush hour, killing at least five people and injuring at least 60 others, including three children who were in critical condition, authorities said. Cherokee Ballard, a spokeswoman for the state medical examiner, said four people died west of Oklahoma City in Canadian County, where a weather-monitoring site in El Reno recorded 243 kilometre per hour winds.
She did not have any immediate details about the deaths. At Chickasha, 40 kilometres southwest of Oklahoma City, a 26-year-old woman died when a tornado hit a mobile home park where residents had been asked to evacuate their trailers, Assistant Police Chief Elip Moore said.
He said a dozen people were injured and that hundreds were displaced when the storm destroyed their homes. In Kansas, police said two people died when high winds threw a tree into their van near the small town of St John, about 160 kilometres west of Wichita.
The highway was shut down because of storm damage.
More severe weather occurred after nightfall as the storms continued east, but none with the power of the daytime storms. Their path included Joplin, which is still cleaning up from a massive storm on Sunday that was the nation's eighth-deadliest twister among records dating to 1840.
"Unfortunately, this event will likely continue for some time," Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin said.
"I am asking all Oklahomans to stay aware of the weather and to take proper precautions to keep themselves out of harm's way." The Storm Prediction Center had warned since the weeken
d that strong, long-tracking tornadoes could hit Oklahoma and adjacent parts of Kansas and Texas. The storm that killed four west of Oklahoma City on Tuesday later moved to the capital's northern suburbs and on toward Stillwater - covering a distance of about 130 kilometres.
"We knew for the last two days that we had an opportunity for long-tracking tornadoes, and unfortunately that came true today," said Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.
Ooten said at least 60 people were injured in the Tuesday evening storms.
Three children suffered major injuries in Piedmont west of Oklahoma City, according to Lara O'Leary, a spokeswoman for the region's Emergency Medical Service Authority.
The line of storms began about 3pm in Oklahoma and followed tracks greater than 65 kilometres into the state's capital city before continuing on toward Tulsa.
Oklahoma state offices and many businesses let workers leave hours earlier to get out of harm's way.
Travellers and staff at the two major North Texas airports were moved to safety as the threat of tornadoes and large hail moved into the area.
Also, fans were evacuated from the Rangers Ballpark concourse in Texas as a precaution against hail during a rain delay in Tuesday night's baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers.
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