Midwest tornadoes: 5 dead in Okla. (CBS/AP) OKLAHOMA CITY - Tornadoes erupting across the Midwest and Plains left five people dead and several others injured in Oklahoma and damaged houses, a hospital, a jail, an Air Force base and other buildings during a weekend outburst of severe weather, authorities said. Oklahoma emergency officials said five people died before dawn Sunday after a tornado hit in and around the northwest Oklahoma town of Woodward, the high winds damaging homes, toppling trees and downing power lines in that area about 140 miles northwest of Oklahoma City. The brunt of the damage was reported on the west side of the town of about 12,000, and in the neighboring community of Tangier. Storms also were reported in Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska as a severe storm system raked its way across the nation's midsection Saturday and Sunday. Lightning, large hail and heavy downpours accompanied the system. At least 5 dead after severe weather hits the Plains> Twisters, baseball-sized hail strike Midwest Storm system expect to wreak havoc in Midwest Oklahoma Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Keli Cain said the state medical examiner's office confirmed five fatalities in the Woodward area early Sunday but search and rescue operations were still going on hours after the tornado hit shortly after midnight. She didn't know the gender or age of the victims or details of their deaths but several homes were damaged. "Significant damage and injuries have been reported," she said in a statement. She had no immediate count of the injured or severity of injuries. Police said search and rescue units from neighboring communities were joining in the effort. Cain said authorities were anxiously awaiting daybreak Sunday to accelerate efforts to aid the injured and take stock of the damage. National Weather Service forecasters had issued sobering outlooks that the worst of the weather in the Midwest and Plains would hit in the nighttime hours, predicting that conditions were right for exceptionally strong tornadoes. Weather officials and emergency management officials had worried most about what would happen if strong storms hit when people were sleeping, not paying attention to weather reports and unlikely to hear warning sirens. The National Weather Service said the deadly tornado hit Woodward at 12:18 a.m. Woodward Mayor Roscoe Hill said warning sirens sounded loudly on Saturday afternoon when advance storms rumbled through but he didn't hear the sirens go off for Sunday's tornado. He said the tornado struck a mixed area of residences and businesses and there were reports of possible damage to a mobile home park. He added that power was knocked out to thousands. The American Red Cross said it would send relief trucks early Sunday from Oklahoma City and other locations, adding first responders in the Woodward area appeared to be pressed to the limit to handle the immediate disaster response. "They're in chaos mode," said Rusty Surette, a regional communications director for the American Red Cross in Oklahoma City, speaking of authorities in Woodward. He said Red Cross volunteers early Sunday had loaded up trucks with cots, food, water and medical and hygiene supplies to roll toward Woodward once the line of severe storms had passed. He also said a shelter was being established at a church in Woodward but expressed frustration that relief would have wait until the dangerous storms had passed in the early hours. Kansas Yvonne Tucker rushed to a shelter with about 60 of her neighbors at Pinaire Mobile Home Park in Oaklawn. CBS Affiliate KWCH reports there are 100 homes in the mobile home park; 10-15 were destroyed in the storm and several others damaged. Authorities went door to door and have accounted for all residents except for one. A secondary search will start at eight Sunday morning. Nebraska "I'm on a 2-mile stretch that this thing is on the ground and I haven't even gotten to the end of it yet," he said, walking the path of destruction near the Johnson-Nemaha county line. Iowa CBS Affiliate KCCI reports that damage was reported at the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston. The extent of the damage is not yet known, but a nursing home near the hospital also sustained damage. Mayor Warren Woods said power lines are down all over Creston, and much of the city is without electricity. At Southwest Community College, roof damage was found on dormitories, and there were other reports of damage there. Police said there were reports of injuries.