A line of strong thunderstorms passing through Oklahoma ripped part of the roof off a hospital in Sallisaw, Okla., on Tuesday evening, forcing the evacuation of several patients, officials said. Some homes in the city were also damaged.
There were no injuries reported at the hospital, Northeastern Health System Sequoyah, or the surrounding area, said Brian Heverly, the city manager of Sallisaw. All the patients at Northeastern Health System were transported to other hospitals in the area.
The hospital was expected to remain “out of commission” for a few hours to bring in a mobile emergency room, which Mr. Heverly expected would be operational around 10 p.m. Until then, the hospital’s emergency room operations were being diverted to other hospitals in the area, he said.
The city of Sallisaw said in a post on Facebook that damage to the area included downed trees, power lines and poles, and that crews were working to restore “services as quickly and safely as possible.” The storms also damaged an unspecified number of homes in the area, Mr. Heverly said. “Trees in Oklahoma, they don’t like to go down by themselves, so they take power lines with them and land on people’s homes.”
Josh Sharp, a dispatcher with the Sallisaw Police Department, said that crews were going door to door in some of the hardest-hit areas, including streets surrounding the hospital.
A series of thunderstorms swept from western Arkansas into southeastern Oklahoma late Tuesday, bringing threats of damaging winds, large hail and isolated tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service in Tulsa. Parts of eastern Oklahoma and all of northwestern Arkansas were under a severe thunderstorm watch and a tornado watch on Tuesday evening, the agency said.
Sheelagh McNeill contributed research.
Hannah Ziegler is a general assignment reporter for The Times, covering topics such as crime, business, weather, pop culture and online trends.
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