Tornadoes injure 10, damage dozens of homes in northern Oklahoma

At least 10 people were injured and homes were destroyed when tornadoes swept through northern Oklahoma, with the hardest hit damage centered in Enid’s Gray Ridge neighborhood and across Garfield County. The National Weather Service issued a tornado emergency for southeast Enid, warning of a life-threatening situation and possible complete destruction as the storms threatened Enid, Waukomis, Breckenridge, Fairmont and Vance Air Force Base.

Garfield County deputies searched for people trapped under debris after the storms moved through Thursday night, and emergency resources were arriving from Logan and Kingfisher counties as officials tried to account for the damage. Oklahoma emergency managers said about 40 homes had some level of damage in Enid and Garfield County, while the American Red Cross opened a shelter at the Enid Chisholm Trail Expo Center, 111 W. Purdue Ave., to help displaced residents.

Governor Kevin Stitt declared a State of Emergency for Garfield and Kay counties on Friday, citing severe weather, tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding. The declaration activated Oklahoma’s Emergency Price Stabilization Act in both counties, limiting price increases to 10 percent, and the U.S. Small Business Administration was scheduled to join joint damage assessments in Garfield County on Tuesday, April 28.

The tornado that tore into Enid was later rated EF-4, one of the strongest classifications on the Enhanced Fujita scale. National Weather Service meteorologist Rick Smith said it was the first EF-4 tornado in Garfield County since April 26, 1991, and the first EF-4 in Oklahoma since the Barnsdall tornado in 2024. Vance Air Force Base was closed until further notice.

Sen. James Lankford toured the damage in Enid on Saturday, with Gray Ridge emerging as the hardest-hit neighborhood. The outbreak also deepened concerns about Oklahoma’s relentless 2026 severe-weather season: the state’s tornado count had already climbed to 33 after storms on April 20, and two people were killed near Fairview in March, the nation’s first tornado deaths of 2026. In a spring marked by repeated sirens, the question in northern Oklahoma is not only how fast the storms formed, but whether rural warning systems, response routes and recovery resources can keep pace when the next one does.