3 Missing as New Storm Wave Hits Plains

Three people were reported missing as thunderstorms and flooding spread across Oklahoma on Saturday, while up to seven inches of snow fell in Utah and snarled traffic, officials said.

Mobile homes were battered as a storm spawning high winds and hail knocked down trees, downed power lines and tore roofs off homes in central and east Kansas.

The latest storms arrived as residents and disaster officials in the Plains assessed damage from hail, heavy rains and high winds that killed two people on Friday.

Oklahoma City police were searching Saturday for a missing baby swept out of a car. They also searched for a man and a girl who were in another vehicle that was carried into a creek.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported widespread flooding on roadways and said that its Troop A headquarters in Oklahoma City was flooded.

Heavy flooding was reported in south Oklahoma City late Saturday, with as many as 30 cars stuck at one intersection.

Tornadoes were reported in southern Oklahoma, but no damage nor injuries were immediately reported.

Kansas authorities reported numerous sightings of funnel clouds and tornadoes, but only two minor injuries were reported.

On Friday, about a dozen tornadoes smashed South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas, flattening homes and derailing a train.

In Brookings, S.D., winds of up to 126 m.p.h. ripped roofs from apartment buildings, destroyed mobile homes and damaged cars and businesses. Hospital officials reported treating 12 people for minor injuries from the storm late Friday.

The late spring snowstorm that moved across the Wasatch Front in Utah on Saturday caused a rash of freeway fender-benders. Seven inches of snow fell on motorists traveling on Interstate 80 at Parleys Summit.

Between Monday and Friday, the town of Alta had received 54 inches of new snow. By Saturday, town workers had given up keeping track because the 10-foot measuring stick outside the town offices was no longer visible.

“You can’t measure when your stake’s buried,” dispatcher Chad Rhinehart said.