A tornado ripped through parts of Oklahoma, destroying homes and leaving at least one person dead. But amid the destruction, one image is being shared across social media that is bringing hope in the affected community.
A high school student named Chase Rhodes from Moore, Oklahoma took a picture of a power pole Wednesday that was left hanging in the form of a cross surrounded by destruction. He captioned the tweet,"God is with us," and it has been retweeted and shared thousands of times.
Tulsa County Sheriff's Capt. Billy McKelvey said one person was killed in the mobile home park in the Tulsa suburb of Sand Springs, which he said could accommodate 40 to 50 trailers.
"It could have been much worse," he said.
A National Weather Service meteorologist said survey teams would be sent to assess the damage Thursday but that it was likely a twister that hit Sand Springs.
Oklahoma Department of Emergency Services spokeswoman Keli Cain said at least nine people were hospitalized with injuries but that the total number of injuries wasn't yet known.
The small twister swept across parts of Moore, the area where 24 people died in a top-of-the-scale EF5 tornado in 2013. Other twisters formed along a line from southwest of Oklahoma City to east of Tulsa, and some touched down in the Ozark Mountains of northwestern Arkansas.
Power utilities reported just over 20,000 power outages Thursday morning, down from nearly 80,000 Wednesday night.
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