© Tom Gilbert/Tulsa World via Associated Press
This photo shows damage to a Fridays restaurant after a storm moved through the area in Tulsa, Okla., Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. A tornado struck near midtown Tulsa and causing power outages and roof damage to businesses.
Out-of-season EF2 twister tears through midtown, damaging structures and injuring at least 30 people
An unseasonable August tornado tore through midtown Tulsa early Sunday, damaging dozens of businesses and injuring at least 30 people who were surprised by the sudden spin-up.
The EF2 tornado touched down about 1:25 a.m. in midtown, and left a path of damage between 41st and 51st streets, stretching from Harvard Avenue to Mingo Road, according to a city of Tulsa news release.
EMSA ambulances transported 13 people with storm-related injuries to local hospitals in the aftermath of the tornado. Of those, eight were taken from a TGI Fridays restaurant near the 41st Street and Yale Avenue shopping corridor, and four were taken from a nearby Whataburger, spokeswoman Kelli Bruer said.
Saint Francis Hospital treated 30 people for storm-related injuries at its trauma emergency center, said Lauren Landwerlin, executive director of corporate communications.
A spokeswoman with St. John Medical Center refused to comment on the number of patients who were treated at that hospital, citing federal privacy guidelines.
Sunday's storm was unusual in two ways: It developed in August, after Oklahoma's spring tornado season, and it developed rapidly out of what appeared Saturday evening to be a "garden variety" thunderstorm, said Roger Jolliff, Tulsa Area Emergency Management director said.
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