UPDATE: Death toll rises to nine in Oklahoma City tornadoes

OKLAHOMA CITY — Emergency officials set out Saturday to assess damage from a series of violent storms and tornadoes that killed nine people as it swept through Oklahoma City and its suburbs with tornadoes, large hail and heavy rain. More than 100 people were injured.

Muddy floodwaters stood several feet deep in the countryside surrounding the metro area. Torrential downpours followed for hours after the twisters moved east, and water damage was reported at the city’s airport. The storms battered a state still reeling after the top-of-the-scale EF5 tornado that ripped through suburban Moore last month, killing 24 people and decimating neighborhoods.

Water surged hood-high on many streets, snarling traffic at the worst possible time: Friday’s evening commute. Even though several businesses closed early so employees could beat the storm home, highways were still clogged with motorists worried about a repeat of the chaos in Moore.

Bart Kuester, 50, a truck driver from Wisconsin, said he was driving along Interstate 35 past Moore when he realized a dangerous storm was approaching.

When the storm passed between El Reno and Yukon, it barreled right down Interstate 40 for more than two miles, ripping billboards down to twisted metal frames. Debris was tangled in the median’s crossover barriers, including huge pieces of sheet metal, tree limbs, metal pipes, a giant oil drum and a stretch of chain-link fence.

The warped remains of a horse trailer lay atop a barbed-wire fence less than 50 yards from the highway.

Violent weather also moved through the St. Louis area. Early aerial images of the storm’s damage showed groups of homes with porches ripped away, roofs torn off and piles of splintered wood scattered across the ground for blocks. Officials in St. Charles County also reported that local schools suffered some damage.

Among the nine dead in Oklahoma were a mother and a baby found in a vehicle. Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman for the state medical examiner, said Saturday the death toll was up to seven adults and two children. The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported Saturday afternoon that 104 people were hurt.

Meteorologists had warned about particularly nasty weather Friday but said the storm’s fury didn’t match that of the tornado that struck Moore. The Friday storm, however, brought with it much more severe flooding. It dumped around 8 inches of rain on Oklahoma City in the span of a few hours and made the tornado difficult to spot for motorists trying to beat it home.

“Some tornadoes are wrapped in rain, so it’s basically impossible to see, which is extremely dangerous,” said Bruce Thoren, a meteorologist with National Weather Service in Norman. “Somebody driving along really not familiar with what’s going on can basically drive into it.”

Emergency officials reported that numerous injuries occurred in the area along I-40, and said the storm’s victims were mostly in cars. Standing water was several feet deep, and in some places it looked more like a hurricane had passed through than a tornado. More than 86,000 utility customers were without power.

Among the injured was Weather Channel meteorologist Mike Bettes, who suffered minor injuries when his “tornado hunt” SUV that he and two photographers were riding in was thrown 200 yards. The Weather Channel said all of the people in the vehicle were able to walk away, and that it was the first time a network personality was injured in a storm.