After a storm spanning from Dallas to northwest Arkansas produced tornadoes and flash flooding, killing at least two people, injuring others, and destroying homes and other structures, residents in southeast Oklahoma and northeastern Texas started assessing the weather damage on Saturday.
They are working to recover and are grateful to have survived. Kevin Stitt, the governor of Oklahoma, visited Idabel to assess the damage.
He claimed on social media that a 90-year-old man had been killed and that all the homes had been searched.
The man’s body was discovered at his home in the Pickens neighborhood in McCurtain County, roughly 36 miles (58 kilometers) north of Idabel, according to Keli Cain, a representative for the state’s Department of Emergency Management.
Judge Doug Reeder of Morris County, Texas, stated in a social media post that one person perished due to a tornado in the far northeastern Texas County without providing any other information.
For further comment, phone calls to Reeder and other county officials were not immediately returned.
According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, a 6-year-old child drowned, and a 43-year-old father went missing when their car was carried off a bridge near Stilwell, about 135 miles (217 kilometers) north of Idabel.
According to Cain, the drowning has not been officially linked to the storm, and the medical examiner will look into it.
Stitt proclaimed on Saturday afternoon for McCurtain County, which includes Idabel and the nearby Bryan, Choctaw, and LeFlore counties.
The declaration paves the way for state agencies to make purchases related to disaster recovery without restrictions on bidding rules and is a step toward qualifying for federal aid and money.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott urged citizens to report damage to the Texas Division of Emergency Management and stated that damage assessments and recovery activities are underway throughout northeast Texas.
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