Five people died Sunday morning when a series of tornadoes ripped across Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas, authorities said.

The victims include two children at the Hide A Way mobile home park in Woodward, Okla., and two adults in a small community just outside the city limits. The twister struck the city after lightning apparently disabled its storm warning system, Mayor Roscoe Hill told Reuters.

"This thing took us by surprise," Hill said, adding storm sirens had not sounded. "It's kind of overwhelming."

The mayor said the tornado hit the west and north sides of the city, badly damaging an apartment complex where residents were trapped and awaiting rescue. The details of the fifth victim are not yet known according to Keli Cain, spokeswoman for Oklahoma Emergency Management.

A total of 60 tornadoes touched down overnight in Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma, according to reports.

In Kansas, a twister in Wichita caused damage at McConnell Air Force Base and the Spirit AeroSystems and Boeing plants. A mobile home park was heavily damaged in the city, although no injuries or deaths were reported.

Several buildings including the one housing the sheriff's department and jail were damaged in the Rice County, Kansas, which issued a disaster declaration. Jail inmates were transferred to another facility because of the damage, reported the Associated Press.

There were also reports that homes were damaged and power lines were down. A hospital was wrecked in Creston, Iowa.

In Nebraska, a tornado took a roof off a farm house and basketball-sized hail shattered windows.

More warnings on storms have continued. "Severe weather is possible Sunday from east Texas and Arkansas and up into the Great Lakes," the AP quoted Bill Bunting, chief of operations at the Storm Prediction Center as saying.

A series of tornadoes swept across South and Midwest, including Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, in March, damaging homes and knocking out power in several areas. More than 30 people were killed in that disaster.

Source:IBTimes