| Oklahoma, Texas feel punch of strong storms 04/07/2001 Associated Press Strong storms blew through parts of the Texas Panhandle, North Texas and western Oklahoma Friday evening, prompting tornado warnings and causing some damage as they moved rapidly to the northeast.
Wind gusts between 60 mph and 70 mph, large hail and torrential rain were common with the storms in northwestern Oklahoma. A tornado watch was in effect until midnight for 41 counties in central, western and northern Oklahoma.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for parts of Roger Mills and Ellis counties in Oklahoma, and a short time later did the same for sections of Dewey, Ellis and Woodward counties.
A small tornado was reported on the ground near Vici in Ellis County, Oklahoma. A church steeple was blown over, but no other damage or injuries were confirmed.
In Woodward County, high winds destroyed a mobile home in Fort Supply and flipped another six miles north of Woodward, officials said. There was damage to the Alabaster Caverns State Park in Freedom and power poles were toppled, leaving the town of Mooreland in the dark, a Woodward County sheriff's dispatcher said.
Jake Castor, Woodward County emergency management director, said officials may not know the extent of the damage until morning.
In Texas, high winds swept through most of the state Friday, with gusts as high as 85 mph kicking up dust in the Panhandle before storms erupted and swept northeast into Oklahoma.
In addition to a tornado watch in the Panhandle, a wind advisory was posted by the National Weather Service early Friday for North Texas, the South Plains, the Panhandle and the Marfa Plateau as well as the Guadalupe and Davis Mountains.
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