At least 19 tornadoes touch down from Texas to Oklahoma, causing widespread damage

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma -- An intense storm system moved across the Southern Plains on Monday, spawning tornadoes that caused scattered damage and a deluge of rain but not the "particularly dangerous" twisters that forecasters had feared.

No injuries were reported.

Late Monday, the National Weather Service reduced the severe threat of violent storms to a small area of southern Oklahoma and northern Texas. But it kept an area stretching from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Wichita Falls, Texas, under tornado watch.

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ABC13 meteorologists David Tillman and Collin Myers storm chase in north Texas

The biggest threat overnight appeared to be flash flooding from torrential rains that accompanied the storms, forecasters said.

RAW VIDEO: Flood rescues underway in Oklahoma after torrential rains

Rescues were underway Tuesday morning after torrential rains caused flash flooding in parts of Oklahoma.

The National Weather Service had warned that Monday evening could bring perilous weather to a large swath of western Texas, most of Oklahoma and southern Kansas. The storm was expected to move later Monday into western Arkansas.

As predicted, more than a dozen sightings of tornadoes were reported in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and Missouri early Monday evening, although they were in sparsely populated areas.

SEE ALSO: Tornado and flash flooding across Midwest

At least 19 tornadoes touched down in several states, causing widespread damage

Oklahoma residents were particularly nervous Monday because it was the sixth anniversary of a massive tornado in Moore, south of Oklahoma City, that killed 24 people.

"It came so fast that we really didn't hear so much," Brenda Rogers said.

A tornado struck western and northern portions of the southwestern Oklahoma town of Mangum on Monday afternoon.

Emergency officials reported a tornado near Lucien, in northern Oklahoma, severely damaging a house and destroying a barn. One storm cell near Crescent, 32 miles north of Oklahoma City, spawned twin tornadoes.

Meanwhile, shelters have opened in several counties for those having to leave their homes.

"You can always replace stuff like that, but a life you can't replace," one man said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.