2 dead as slow-moving storms flood roads across Oklahoma and Texas
[May 01, 2025]
By SEAN MURPHY and MARC LEVY
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A least two people drowned when their vehicles were
caught in floodwaters in Oklahoma on Wednesday as slow-moving
thunderstorms inundated roads across parts of that state and Texas,
authorities said, while Pennsylvania residents picked up from a powerful
storm that left three people dead.
Heavy rains and severe thunderstorms will mean a heightened risk of
flash flooding across the south-central U.S. through early Thursday, the
National Weather Service said.
Rains drench parts of Oklahoma and Texas
The storms drenched much of southern Oklahoma and northern Texas,
flooding and washing out roads and causing hundreds of flights to be
canceled or delayed at major airports.
One man drowned in Oklahoma after his vehicle got swept off a
Pottawatomie County highway, said Sheriff Freeland Wood.
“My deputy went in to try and save him, and he got caught up in the same
mess,” Wood said.
The deputy was treated at a local hospital and released, Wood said.
Floodwaters closed nearly three dozen roadways in the county.
Another drowning was reported in neighboring Lincoln County after a
driver’s vehicle got trapped in floodwaters along a highway northwest of
Prague, Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokesperson Sarah Stewart said.
Authorities in the state reported that numerous drivers were rescued
from floodwaters, while some residents in the small city of Lexington
were evacuated from homes as the waters rose.
Oklahoma City set a record Wednesday with 11.94 inches (30.33
centimeters) of rain in April, surpassing the 1947 mark of 11.91 inches,
according to Oklahoma State Climatologist Gary McManus.
Oklahoma was poised to break the 1942 record for statewide rainfall
average of 8.32 inches (21.13 centimeters) for the month, McManus said.
By Wednesday night parts of more than a dozen highways were closed due
to flooding and three shelters opened in Comanche County.
In the Dallas area, departures were grounded at Dallas Love Field and
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport for part of the day because of
thunderstorms, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Hundreds of flights were canceled at DFW International Airport and
dozens more at Love Field, according to FlightAware.
Pennsylvania storm knocks out power to hundreds of thousands
Tuesday night's powerful storm knocked out power to more than 425,000
customers in Pennsylvania and 40,000 in Ohio, according to
PowerOutage.us. Neighboring states also reported thousands of outages.
About 300,000 Pennsylvania customers and nearly 19,000 in Ohio were
without power late Wednesday.
A spokesperson for Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Light called the storm’s
damage “unprecedented” for knocking out electricity, toppling trees and
snapping power poles.
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This photo provided by the Lexington Fire Department shows flooding
in Lexington, Okla., Wednesday, April 30, 2025. Several people were
evacuated from their homes due to flooding. (Trenton
Mitchell/Lexington Fire Department via AP)
About 325,000 customers lost power and more than 150,000 were still
in the dark in the evening, the company said on its website. The
utility was bringing in about 400 people from neighboring utility
contractors to help restore electricity.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro surveyed damage in Allegheny County
on Wednesday and stopped by Fiori’s, a popular pizzeria that had had
its roof ripped off by the storm.
Authorities say 3 deaths are related to storm in Pennsylvania
A Pennsylvania man was electrocuted on Tuesday evening while trying
to extinguish a mulch fire near a utility pole as severe weather hit
the State College area, police said. The 22-year-old man died at the
scene. State College police said they believe the man's death to be
storm-related.
In Pittsburgh, first responders were called to the South Side Slopes
area for reports of a person electrocuted by live wires, and that
person died on the scene, according to the Pittsburgh Public Safety
Department. The department urged residents to use extreme caution
when moving through the city, citing multiple hazards such as downed
trees and possible live wires.
Allegheny County officials confirmed that a 67-year-old man was
killed by a fallen tree at a home in Ross Township, just outside
Pittsburgh.
Teams investigating wind damage in Pittsburgh area
The National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh office said destructive
wind damage was seen across its region. Straight-line winds gusted
over 80 mph to 90 mph (129 kph to 145 kph), which is stronger than
many EF0 and EF1 tornadoes typically seen in the area, the weather
service office said in a social media post.
The line of thunderstorms that swept across Pennsylvania on Tuesday
night formed what’s called a “bow echo,” or a bow-shaped line of
incredibly strong winds that are strongest at the apex of the curve,
according to weather service meteorologist John Bowen in State
College. Damage was most severe where the apex passed, he said.
Pittsburgh International Airport recorded its third-highest wind
gust in modern history at 71 mph (114 kph), according to Liana Lupo,
a meteorologist with the weather service's Pittsburgh office. A team
investigated wind damage in Wilkinsburg, just outside Pittsburgh,
but could not conclusively say a tornado had touched down, Lupo
said.
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Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Associated Press
writers Jamie Stengle in Dallas and Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville,
Maryland, contributed.
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