Severe storms with large hail and high winds swept through Oklahoma Tuesday night, knocking out power to thousands and damaging homes and vehicles.

Several apartment buildings and homes had broken windows, as well as scattered leaves and tree limbs throughout neighborhoods.

Our reporters have been following the damage and upcoming storms expected to hit later this evening. To avoid injury, it never hurts to be prepared. Take some time to review a severe weather checklist below provided by the American Red Cross.

For more storm coverage this evening, follow or subscribe to our Weather blog here.

Severe weather checklist

Photo submitted by Leslie Berger.

Fire investigators are still working to determine what caused a Midwest City apartment fire that killed a mother and her two children May 6.

Maj. David Richardson said more investigators have been brought in to examine the building at 449 Harr Drive but haven’t been able to determine the heat source.

The state medical examiner’s office ruled that Lindsey Terry, 26,  and her two sons, John Brown-Jones II, 2, and Dylan Terry, 4, died from smoke inhalation and thermal burns suffered in the fire. Terry also had a 7-year-old daughter who wasn’t home at the time of the blaze.

Read the initial fire report below for more:

Fatal Midwest City fire report

Photo by Paul Hellstern: A small memorial is being created on a tree in front of the Raintree Meadows Apartments in Midwest City where two boys and a mother were killed in an apartment fire May 6.

Many questions are still unanswered after a fire broke out in an apartment in Midwest City Sunday, killing a mother and her two children.

Maj. David Richardson said investigators determined Monday that the fire started in the living room hallway of the family’s unit, Apt. D at the Raintree Meadows Apartments, 449 Harr Drive. He said more investigators are at the scene today, trying to gather more information.

In the last 24 hours, I’ve heard people say the smoke detectors were not working in the family’s apartment. Richardson said investigators are looking into that report.

He said they did find that a detector had been installed in the apartment at one point, but it’s unknown if it was functioning at the time of the fire. Other smoke detectors in the area were sounding when the fire started, Richardson said.

We’re following this story and hope to have more answers later today. If not today, we’ll continue to cover the incident and report any new information we receive.

For more information on how to make donations to the family, click here.

It all started with a fire call overheard on the scanner.

The sirens caught my attention while I was writing up an accident report. I turned up the volume and tuned in, but I couldn’t hear an address. Eventually, I nailed down the location of the apartment fire and headed to 449 Harr Drive.

I made it to the scene and met with Maj. David Richardson from the Midwest City Fire Department for an overview of the situation. I wasn’t expecting to hear what he was about to tell me.

Two children and a 26-year-old woman were found unresponsive and dead inside one unit.

What?

My eyebrows arched. My eyes diverted to my notebook. Did he really just say what I think he did?

At least eight other apartment units were damaged by the…

I kept taking notes, but my mind was still hung up on the victims. In all my experience as a crime reporter, I can honestly say I’ve been to a lot of fire and crime scenes, but this one caught me off guard.

Two innocent children had lost their lives and a 26-year-old woman was battling to keep hers. It was unlike anything I’ve ever covered.

Maybe it was the way the neighbors and community really rallied around each other. I watched as a neighbor handed a bottle of water to one man who escaped from the fire with his dog. Others gathered and prayed for the victims.

Or maybe it was the shock that two children were killed so suddenly. Several people told me how they felt when firefighters brought out one of the boys in a wrapped blanket.

After all three victims were taken to the hospital in ambulances, neighbors lingered around the property, hoping to hear better news.

And they did.

Richardson told me shortly after I arrived that the woman thought to be deceased had been revived at the hospital. Finally, there was a moment of hope for the crowd.

I felt it too.

As reporters, I know we are told not to become the story, but we’re human. Our reporting is always going to be accompanied by compassion, grieving, understanding and numerous other emotions. That’s unavoidable.

To me, it wasn’t just another story. It never is.

As of Sunday night, the names of the victims haven’t been released, and firefighters are still trying to determined the cause and origin of the fire.

No matter how many questions remain, one thing is for sure. It was a tragic day for many in the community who will never forget.

I know I won’t.

It all started with a fire call overheard on the scanner. It ended with mournful silence outside of the structure where two boys and a young woman used to live.

A fire spokeswoman said Oklahoma City was called to assist with the fire about 2:50 p.m. Tuesday at 14500 Richland Road. She said the city dispatched three brush pumpers, one engine and a tanker to help extinguish the blaze.

All of the children have been removed, accounted for and did not receive any injuries due to the smoke, firefighters said.

Drivers reported several grass fires along Interstate 35 between Guthrie and Edmond via Twitter Wednesday morning.

Rusty Surette, spokesman for the American Red Cross of Central Oklahoma, also  tweeted several photos and videos of the fires burning in the median of the road.

Guthrie Battalion Fire Chief Greg Machtolff said the fires started shortly before 9 a.m. when an axle on a trailer broke and sparks ignited the grass near Seward Road. He said firefighters were called to the scene and extinguished the fires by 9:40 a.m. Wednesday.

Oklahoma City firefighters battled a blaze at the Lantana Apartments, 7408 NW 10, Tuesday afternoon.  Check back with NewsOK for more.

Photo by Chris Landsberger: Oklahoma City firefighters work the scene of a fire at an abandoned apartment complex at 7408 NW 10th on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012, in Oklahoma City.