Fatal Weather Strikes the Midwest

Authorities say search and rescue crews are combing an area of northwest Oklahoma around the towns of Woodward and Tangier after a tornado just after midnight, local time, left five people confirmed dead.

Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Keli Cain said early Sunday that state medical examiner’s office had confirmed the fatalities in the Woodward area.

Woodward Mayor Roscoe Hill say sirens apparently were not sounding though they had worked for earlier storms. Hill says the tornado hit in a mixed area of residences and businesses.

Forecasters continue to warn that the possibility for "life threatening" severe weather still exists today across the Midwest and Plains.

Tornadoes were spotted yesterday at a faster pace than spotters could keep up with in some places.

Storms were reported in Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma. In

western Iowa, a large part of the town of Thurman was destroyed. Sound: various and pursuing