At least two people were killed after multiple toadoes touched down Monday across Oklahoma.
The emergency director in Garvin County, Oklahoma, Bud Ramming, said a man believed to be in his late 70s was found dead in Wyewood, located south of Oklahoma City.
The twister prompted forecasters to issue a "toado emergency" for communities east of Wyewood, noting the storm could be particularly violent.
Another death was reported in Johnston County, Fox 25 reported.
The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, had waed that a "substantial toado risk" could develop in portions of the Southe Plains and Ozarks late Monday.
A series of violent thunderstorms dropped toadoes near Oklahoma City and in the rolling hills south of the capital.
"You are in a life-threatening situation," forecasters declared when they declared a toado emergency for Roff, population 725, and Hickory, population 71. "Flying debris will be deadly to those caught without shelter."
Television images showed at least three homes destroyed, multiple overtued vehicles and trees to limb to limb. A roof lay near a hay ba after the first toado reports from near Wyewood along Interstate 35.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol closed five miles of the main roadway between Oklahoma City and Dallas as the storm approached. It opened about 15 minutes later.
Meteorologists said twisters with wind speeds above 111 mph were possible from easte Oklahoma to central Arkansas. Hail 2 inches or more in diameter is possible from easte Texas to southeaste Kansas.
About 41 million people from Houston to Sioux City, Iowa, are at risk for some type of stormy weather.
While the threat was less farther north, forecasters issued a toado waing for a storm near Lincoln, Nebraska.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.