Shocking footage was captured as a devastating tornado ripped through a small Oklahoma town, destroying several homes and leaving thousands without power.
The devastating twister ravaged the Midwest state Wednesday night, while parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Texas and Iowa were also placed under tornado watches.
Tennis ball-sized hail and strong winds severely damaged many homes, while nearly 20,000 people in several counties were left in the dark after storms knocked out power lines.
Severe weather is expected to develop across many states throughout Wednesday night and into the coming days, which could see several more tornado outbreaks ravage the region.
The devastation comes as several other tornadoes have struck the Midwest and South in recent weeks, with at least 26 people dead in the wake.
The National Weather Service warned that the tornado was set to be ‘large and extremely dangerous’ as it first touched down in Cole, Oklahoma, a town of approximately 600 people.
Several counties in the region were also hit ahead of the season, destroying homes and leaving trees uprooted.
The storm hit Kansas late Wednesday night, with the Chase County Sheriff’s Office confirming extensive damage including downed power lines ‘all over’, according to KSN. The authority reportedly added that a car was taken by the tornado, before its windows were broken upon landing.
It is currently unclear how many people were injured, but the McClain County Sheriff’s Office in Oklahoma said it was responding to reports of ‘injuries and people trapped inside their homes’.
The severe weather front is expected to cause significant damage in the coming days, despite currently hitting mostly rural areas.
The prediction center added to its warning that the tornado would bring ‘severe thunderstorms with the potential for very large hail’.
It continues to have a ‘risk for a couple of tornadoes’ in the region, and ‘severe gusts will be possible late Wednesday afternoon into Wednesday night across parts of the central state’.
Wind gusts of up to 75mph are forecast as the storm system moves West into the Great Plains on Wednesday night.
Severe weather warnings have been issued for residents in the storm’s path, including in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska.
Overnight, destruction is forecast to extend as far as Austin, Texas, while also reaching St Louis, Missouri as other isolated tornadoes are possible.
Residents in the storm’s path were urged to take shelter, with reports that entire homes were flattened by the destruction.
The destruction comes after several tornadoes hit the Midwest and South of America in recent weeks, killing at least 26 people and leaving hundreds of thousands without power.
Devastating storms destroyed homes and businesses and left entire neighborhoods unrecognizable.
The dead included at least nine in one Tennessee county, four in the small town of Wynne, Arkansas, three in Sullivan, Indiana, and four in Illinois.
Last month, terrifying footage was captured of the moment a tornado struck a Mississippi high school, as the state struggled to manage the severe weather bomb.
The massive twister tore through Amory High School, before barreling through the Midwest as one of several to hit the region.
The tornado outbreak, which spawned about two dozen tornadoes, caused severe damage in the area, leading to at least 26 deaths and countless injuries.
Continuing earlier this month, tornadoes were also reported in Alabama and Arkansas, where officials in the city of Little Rock said more than 2,600 buildings were damaged after finding themselves in the storm’s path.
A massive recovery effort has been launched in the affected states, where fallen and uprooted trees were torn apart by strong winds.
Walls and windows were shattered in the destruction, while roofs collapsed and thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed.