( CNN ) Cleanup crews on Thursday started assessing the damage caused by storms that slashed across Oklahoma on Wednesday , killing one person and injuring about two dozen others across the state . A reported tornado ravaged a mobile home park , destroying dozens of trailers just west of Tulsa in the suburb of Sand Springs . Authorities said the man who died at the River Oaks Mobile Home Park had been trying to help his father , who was injured , according to CNN affiliate KJRH . One woman at the mobile home park told KJRH that she was cooking when the storm hit . `` Within 5 minutes it was dark and the sirens were going off and you could n't hear yourself think , '' Brandy Richards said . `` And you just grab the kids and we ran across the street . My best friend has the only house that 's back there , and we barely got into the house and it took the garage . It was so fast . '' `` It looks like there 's been a little war zone around here , '' Tammi Hart told CNN affiliate KTUL . The storm flattened a Sand Springs gymnastics studio , where 60 kids and adults were huddled underground . `` We were just in the middle of practice and the sirens started going off and we just had to get all the kids to the basement , '' according instructor Kelsey Haggard , who said she heard a `` big boom '' when the building was hit . `` Just really happy everyone got out safe , '' said Haggard . `` It was really scary ... it just seems so surreal . '' In addition to the death at the mobile home park , KTUL reported two other people were taken to the hospital in critical condition . The Oklahoma State Department of Health said two dozen people were injured across the state , according to CNN affiliate KOKI . Storm damage was reported across the Tulsa metro area . Gov . Mary Fallin toured the damage in Sand Springs on Thursday and declared a state of emergency for 25 counties . `` Our hearts and prayers go out to the family that lost a loved one and certainly to those who were injured or lost their home or business , '' she said . Severe weather also tore through the Oklahoma City area , including Moore , which has seen more than its share of devastating storms . A massive tornado hit Moore nearly two years ago , killing 24 people and injuring hundreds of others . The Moore Police Department said a 2-mile square area had significant damage , mainly roofs off homes and downed trees . Trees had to be cleared so law enforcement and emergency vehicles could get through . `` You know , this is n't the first time we 've done this so ... unfortunately , we 've gotten pretty good at getting people back into their residences as quick as we can , '' said Sgt . Jeremy Lewis with the city 's police . Until Wednesday , there had n't been a single report of a tornado in the United States during March . CNN meteorologist Judson Jones said there were preliminary reports of seven tornadoes on Wednesday . An average year would produce 80 twisters in March , he said . March is typically a transitional month , where warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with cold Arctic air to produce severe thunderstorms and tornadoes . This year , however , the jet stream pattern responsible for all the cold air and snow in the East had remained stuck in more of a winter mode . But that changed this week as an Arctic cold front began crashing to the south , bringing together the stormy mix . CNN 's Sean Morris , AnneClaire Stapleton , Jeremy Grisham and Dave Alsup contributed to this report .
` ` It looks like there 's been a little war zone around here '' ` Weather ` : There are preliminary reports of 7 tornadoes . ` ` It looks like there 's been a little war zone around here , '' Oklahoma ` ` .