By Renee Duff, AccuWeather meteorologist
By Ashley Williams, AccuWeather staff writer
August 7,2017, 10:57:28AM,EDT
Severe weather and flooding roared across the central and southern Plains on Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
The National Weather Service confirmed on Aug. 6 at 11:58 p.m. CDT that three tornadoes touched down in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, area on Sunday.An EF2 tornado triggered extensive damage across Tulsa and injured at least 30 people. A local hospital treated at least 26 of those people people for storm-related injures, ABC News reported.
A portion of Interstate 44 was closed shortly before 2 a.m. CDT Sunday after a large overhead sign fell onto the highway, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
"The last time that a tornado touched down in August in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, was in 1958," AccuWeather's Shawn Rosenthal said. "It was also the first August tornado to strike the county during the overnight hours in recorded history."
The heavy rain that also poured down on Sunday morning in Tulsa totaled 2.19 inches, which broke the day's previous rainfall record of 2.01 inches from last year.
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A second confirmed EF1 tornado developed at 1:27 a.m. CDT Sunday over Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, damaging roofs and uprooting trees as it moved southeast.
The National Weather Service reported that the third tornado that touched down in Oologah, Oklahoma, on Sunday morning was also an EF1.
The tornado moved northward, snapping power lines, knocking down trees and damaging at least one home.
Slow-moving downpours triggered widespread flooding across the Kansas City, Missouri, metro area. Two to 5 inches of rain poured down in a matter of hours, which quickly swamped roadways across the city. As much as 8 inches of rain may have fallen in portions of Kansas and Missouri, according to radar estimates.
A mile of Interstate 35 was shut down in both directions due to rising water, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. The highway has since reopened.
Vehicles became stranded in the rapidly rising floodwaters, and numerous water rescues were performed.
The rainfall sent a torrent of water into streams and rivers. Brush Creek at Ward Parkway in Kansas City rose over 10 feet on Saturday evening, falling just shy of flood stage.
Moderate flooding occurred on the Blackwater River near Valley City, Missouri. The river is predicted to fall just short of record flood stage (33.62 feet) later Sunday and early Monday, according to hydrologists at the National Weather Service.
The rain forced the postponement of the Kansas City Royals game against the Seattle Mariners. A doubleheader was scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 6.
This is the third time in the past two weeks that Kansas City has dealt with a significant flooding event.
South of the flooding downpours, severe thunderstorms lit up the night sky across southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma.
A brief tornado was confirmed near Winfield, Kansas, on Saturday evening, but no significant damage was reported.
Drier air will start to work southward into the storm-ridden areas early this week, allowing floodwaters to slowly recede and damage cleanup to begin.
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