Devastation: When the storm passed between El Reno and Yukon, it barreled right down Interstate 40 for more than two miles, ripping billboards down to twisted metal frames

Flash floods: Two pickup trucks are pictured stuck in high water along NW 23rd Street in El Reno

Amy Williamson, who lives just off I-40 in the western Oklahoma City suburb of Yukon, said when she heard the tornado was heading towards her home, she put her children, baby sitter and cats in her car and drove away.

'I'm a seasoned tornado watcher ... but I just could not see staying and waiting for it to hit,' she said.



The family sheltered from the storm in a hospital parking garage.



A 51-year-old teacher's assistant who also tried to run from the storm said she quickly regretted her decision, after becoming stuck in traffic in the path of the tornado.

'It was chaos ... Everybody was running for their lives,' Terri Black, who lives in Moore, said.

'My car was actually lifted off the road and then set back down,' Ms Black said. 'The trees were leaning literally to the ground. The rain was coming down horizontally in front of my car. Big blue trash cans were being tossed around like a piece of paper in the wind. I'll never do it again.'



Though the state's transportation authorities strongly advised citizens not to drive, some interstate highways in Oklahoma were jammed with stalled traffic, as heavy rains drenched roadways and flooded low-lying areas.

Officials described parts of Interstates 35 and 40 near Oklahoma City as 'a parking lot.'

When the storm passed between El Reno and Yukon, it barreled right down Interstate 40 for more than two miles, ripping billboards down to twisted metal frames. Debris was tangled in the median's crossover barriers, including huge pieces of sheet metal, tree limbs, metal pipes, a giant oil drum and a stretch of chain-link fence.

Drivers were encouraged to stay off the roads on Saturday, as emergency crews started to repair the flood-damaged roads and bridges, and began clearing trees and other debris from roadways to make it easier for first responders to get to the areas hit by the tornadoes .

Salvaging: A chef at Gilmore's Kitchen at the OKC-West Stockyards, is framed by the kitchen pass-through window on the only kitchen wall still remaining as he checks tornado damage in El Reno

Childcare center: The devastation caused by Friday's storms included a wind turbine blade crashing into a daycare center, fortunately no children were inside

Remains: A man looks for items in what is left of a house in El Reno, Oklahoma on Saturday Damage: A family inspect the office of what is left of the livestock auction business near El Reno, Oklahoma

A woman helps salvage clothing from her neighbor's destroyed house on Saturday morning after overnight storms in St. Charles, Mo.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported Saturday that Oklahoma City-area hospitals treated 104 people. More than half of those were people who had been cut or pierced.

Violent weather also moved through the St. Louis area. Early aerial images of the storm's damage showed groups of homes with porches ripped away, roofs torn off and piles of splintered wood scattered across the ground for blocks. Officials in St. Charles County also reported that local schools suffered some damage.



More than 210,000 customers have lost electricity in the areas affected by the storm. With the severe weather knocking out power to nearly 120,000 customers in Oklahoma, according to electricity provider OG&E.

The worry now turns to flash flooding, floodwaters topped four feet in Oklahoma City on Saturday morning. According to meteorologists about six to eight inches of rain fell in a 12 hour period between 7 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday.

The National Weather Service said the severe weather threat would shift into neighboring Illinois and Missouri, where Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency on Friday.



The morning after: Wilburn Shaw looks for personal items in the remains of his kitchen the morning after Friday night's storm that passed through St. Charles, Mo

Power outages: Tornado-damaged power lines hang separated from its pole after tornadoes that swept through central Oklahoma on Friday

Shattered dreams: A couple in St. Charles embrace as they look over their destroyed home after a violent burst of thunderstorms and tornadoes swept across the Midwest

Together: A mother holds her three children after fans at the Barons game were evacuated to the parking garage under the Cox Convention Center due to severe storms in Oklahoma City on Friday

Television images showed downed power lines and tossed cars as the storm systems dumped at least three inches of rain, stranding motorists in flood water.

Meteorologists had warned about particularly nasty weather Friday but said the storm's fury didn't match that of the tornado that struck Moore. The Friday storm, however, brought with it much more severe flooding. It dumped around 8 inches of rain on Oklahoma City in the span of a few hours and made the tornado difficult to spot for motorists trying to beat it home.

'Some tornadoes are wrapped in rain, so it's basically impossible to see, which is extremely dangerous,' said Bruce Thoren, a meteorologist with National Weather Service in Norman. 'Somebody driving along really not familiar with what's going on can basically drive into it.'

Emergency officials reported that numerous injuries occurred in the area along I-40, and said the storm's victims were mostly in cars. Standing water was several feet deep, and in some places it looked more like a hurricane had passed through than a tornado.

The dead include a mother and her baby who were sucked out of their car during the tornadoes.



The mother and baby were killed while traveling on the Interstate near El Reno when their vehicle was picked up by the storm, said Betsy Randolph, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

'We know that the storm picked them up and swept them away,' Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph told ABC News . 'When the troopers found them, they were both deceased.'

They were just miles from the city of Moore, which was devastated by a massive tornado that killed 24 people on May 20.

Belongings: A woman finds personal photos for a neighbor from the remains of her home destroyed by violent thunderstorms across the Midwest

Ruins: People walk near cars and trees damaged by a tornado at the Canadian Valley Technology Center in El Reno, Oklahoma on Saturday morning

A man's body was found about 1 p.m. on Saturday in a creek just east of Dobbs Road in Harrah, said Mark Myers, a spokesman with the Oklahoma County Sherriff's office.



Myers said the man left for work early Saturday and his vehicle was found empty near East Hefner Road and Dobbs Road just after 6 a.m.



'His vehicle was found washed off the road,' Myers said. 'He was either washed off the road or tried to get out of his car. I don't think people realized how deep and strong the water was.'

The interstate was shut down due to the storm, with multiple crashes and injuries. Two other victims were found in a car in Union City, another was found on a road in El Reno.



At Will Rogers World Airport, 2,000 people spent the night sheltering in underground tunnels, reports News 9.



Fifty people took shelter in the freezer at a Sinclair gas station in south Oklahoma City. In the freezer some people were freaking out and crying, while some comforted others and few told jokes, revealed Beverly Allam, 57.



When she emerged from the freezer her car windshield had been shattered by the hail. On her way home after the worst had passed 'the roads were like rivers,' she said.



Brandi Vanalphen, 30, was among the hundreds of drivers trapped on traffic-snarled roads as she attempted to flee the tornado system menacing the suburb of Norman.

'What got me scared was being stuck in traffic with sirens going off,' she said.



'I started seeing power flashes to the north, and I said "screw this." I started driving on the shoulder. People started driving over the grass.'

People who tried to get away in their cars faced potential dangers from flash flood waters as well as tornado-force winds.

Sun rise: Tornado debris hangs from a destroyed billboard sign along Interstate-40 Westbound after violent thunderstorms spawned tornadoes that menaced Oklahoma City and its already hard-hit suburb of Moore on Friday

Air chaos: At Will Rogers World Airport, 2,000 people spent the night sheltering in underground tunnels Overturned: Authorities say people ignored advice to sit tight and attempted to leave the area - perhaps as a reaction to the previous tornado almost two weeks ago Lightning: A storm chaser in Cushing stopped to take photos of the dramatic moment two lightning strikes hit the ground Tragic: Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers found the bodies of a woman and an infant near their vehicle. Police believe the woman was driving an SUV near El Reno when the powerful twister flipped the vehicle over

More cars on the roads also meant more trouble for Highway Patrol officers responding to automobile accidents during the storm, Randolph said. The officers had to contend with hail and strong winds as they worked to help motorists.

'For reasons that are not clear to me, more people took to the roads, more than we expected.



'Everyone acted differently in this storm, and as a result, it created an extremely dangerous situation,' said Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett.

'I think we are still a little shaken by what happened in Moore. We are still burying children and victims, so our emotions are still strong,' he added.

Among the injured was a meteorologist from The Weather Channel.



Meteorologist Mike Bette is nursing minor injuries after his 'tornado hunt' car was thrown some 200 yards by the storm.



The network said though Betts was hurt, he and the car's two other occupants were wearing safety belts and were able to walk away from the banged-up vehicle.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin told CNN that motorists faced great danger when stuck on any freeway in the path of a twister.

'What we saw from the tornadoes that came through Moore and the other ones last week was that people who were in cars on the Interstate were killed,' Fallin told CNN.

Large, long-lasting thunderstorms known as supercells are responsible for producing the strongest tornadoes, along with large hail and other dangerous winds.

Debris: This aerial photo shows damage in the Rolling Meadow Estates neighborhood on Friday in Broken Arrow, Okla. after a tornado had passed the area

Dangerous: Forecasters warned of a 'particularly dangerous situation,' with ominous language about strong tornadoes and hail the size of grapefruits 4 inches in diameter. Photographed with a wide angle lens, the mile-wide tornado, is seen near El Reno

Injuries: A meteorologist from The Weather Channel was injured after his car (seen here) was thrown 200 yards by the storm

Jack-knifed: Traffic slowly moves around a semi tractor-trailer that was blown off the highway by the tornado on Oklahoma Interstate-40

Stranded: Vehicles trapped by flash flooding sit underneath on the road in Oklahoma City after severe thunderstorms brought tornadoes, high winds, heavy rain and hail to the area

Though the tornado alert expired, the powerful rain continued to hit the area and floodwaters were collecting in the streets.

Flood waters up to 4ft deep hampered rescue attempts and frequent lightning roiled the skies well after the main threat had passed to the east.



Emergency officials reported numerous injuries in the area along I-40, and Randolph said there were toppled and wrecked cars littering the area.



Troopers requested a number of ambulances at I-40 near Yukon, west of Oklahoma City.



Hail and heavy rain pelted the metro area to the point that emergency workers had trouble responding to 'widespread' reports of injuries.

'We're scrambling around,' said Lara O'Leary, a spokeswoman for the local ambulance agency.



'There is very low visibility with the heavy rain ... so we're having trouble getting around.



'The damage is very, very widespread.'

Standing water was several feet deep, and downtown Oklahoma City looked more like a hurricane had gone through than a tornado.



Tornado warnings were also posted Friday night near Tulsa and near St. Louis.

At least six semis on their side at a weight station on I-40 near Oklahoma City, photographer Jim Beckel reported.

Numerous vehicles were damaged in the storm and that many motorists were left stranded.

Storm: The tornado that wreaked havoc near Oklahoma City was reported to be a mile wide with winds reaching up to 80mph

Damage: An Oklahoma home destroyed, its roof partially torn off after the tornado rips through

Salvaging: Residents retrieve belongings from a home destroyed by the tornados that tore through central Oklahoma

More than 86,000 people were without power in the Oklahoma City area, with that number expected to grow, according to ABC News.

Will Rogers World Airport was evacuated as Oklahoma City braced for the tornado, that was moving at 40mph.

Local news reported an estimated 1,200 people were at the airport.

NBC News reported that the passengers were herded to the basement and told to put their hands on their heads as they waited out the storm.



Storm chasers with cameras in their car transmitted video showing a number of funnels dropping from the supercell thunderstorm as it passed south of El Reno and toward downtown Oklahoma City.



Police urged motorists to leave the crosstown Interstate 40 and seek a safe place.

The storm was headed toward Oklahoma City, which has more than a million people in the metro area.



'If you live in downtown Oklahoma City, please go below ground. Do it right now,' local news forecasters told viewers.



Television cameras showed debris falling from the sky west of Oklahoma City and power transformers being knocked out by high winds across a wider area.

The scene was eerily like that from last week, when blackened skies generated a top-of-the-scale EF5 storm with 210 mph winds.

Rick Smith, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service at Norman, said that while the storm packed a powerful punch, it wasn't as strong as the Moore tornado.

Waiting: Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport was evacuated. Local news reported an estimated 1,200 people were at the airport and were herded to the basement to wait out the storm

Approaching: A mile-wide tornado has touched down west of Oklahoma City where it has done damage and it is headed toward Oklahoma City

The region was fortunate because the storm touched down mostly in rural areas and missed central Oklahoma City.

'It's not even close to anything like what we had last week,' Smith said. 'We were very concerned this would move into downtown. It would have been a major problem. It made all the difference that it was out in the country.'

Well before Oklahoma's first thunderstorms fired up at late afternoon, the Storm Prediction Center in Norman was already forecasting a violent evening.



From the Texas border to near Joplin, Mo., residents were told to keep an eye to the sky and an ear out for sirens.

This spring's tornado season got a late start, with unusually cool weather keeping funnel clouds at bay until mid-May.



The season usually starts in March and then ramps up for the next couple of months.

Most tornadoes in the United States are relatively small. Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes to hit since 1950, Oklahoma and Alabama have been hit the most - seven times each.