Praire grassfires destroy US townships
Wildfires raging across the dry southern US prairie have burnt homes in Oklahoma City and destroyed two small towns in Texas.
The tiny communities of Ringgold and Kokomo, together home to about 125 people, had essentially been wiped out by flames, Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Traci Weaver said.
In New Mexico, just across the Texas line, two dozen elderly residents were moved out of a nursing home in Hobbs, and a casino and community college in the town of 29,000 were evacuated as firefighters battled grass fires.
Dozens of fires burned across the dry Oklahoma landscape as the wind gusts reached 50 mph (80 kph), forcing the evacuations of two neighbourhoods in the northeast part of Oklahoma City. Several homes were in flames.
Some injuries were reported in the three states Sunday, but no deaths. The previous week, grass fires had killed four people, destroyed about 100 homes and ravaged more than 50,000 acres across the region.
