Oklahoma residents survey tornado, severe thunderstorm damage
Residents woke up to fallen trees, missing fences and damage to homes and vehicles after severe storms hit the Oklahoma metropolitan area overnight.
Storms crossed the metro on Friday, April 3, affecting areas from Will Rogers International Airport to Shawnee.
In southwest Oklahoma City, Will Rogers International Airport briefly lost power due to the storm.
Airport officials confirmed to The Oklahoman that generators at the airport had kicked in and restored power, and that staff were not sure exactly when power was restored. According to officials, the airport was not damaged by the storm.
However, a building at Oklahoma City Community College was damaged. Homeowners between Southwest 81st and 82nd streets and South Villa Avenue and South Country Club Drive woke up to find missing fence panels, downed trees and more.
On April 4, Thang Huynh picks up a door that was destroyed at his son’s house due to strong storms that came through the area on April 3.
“It was kind of an explosion,” said homeowner Wayne Fischer, who lives at the corner of SW 81st and South Country Club Drive in Oklahoma City. “Our neighbor came into our yard with all his belongings, broke a window in our bedroom and made some dirt on our roof.”
Fischer has no shelter and said he could hear debris flying. He said his neighbor recently built a warehouse that was completely destroyed by the storm.
“There was a small workshop there that they had just built, it’s completely destroyed, I don’t know where it is,” he said.
Fischer’s neighbor, Thang Huynh, confirmed that the shed he used while remodeling his son’s property was destroyed, along with a fence and several neighboring fences.
Debris was scattered across blocks, and there was evidence that strong winds had moved large objects: A trampoline wrapped around a utility pole, a wooden play structure went over a fence, and a small truck in the backyard was facing a different direction than when it was parked, Huynh said.
“This toy was from the neighbor’s yard,” Arturo Rodriguez said, pointing to the play structure while walking around his house.
Rodriguez, whose daughter and grandmother were home alone while he and his wife were out during the storm, said there were some roof leaks, broken glass, gutters and fences that needed repair, but everyone was safe. It’s important because when the sirens went off, family members couldn’t reach the family’s underground shelter.
“They tried to get to the shelter, but the rain came down so fast they couldn’t go. [my grandmother] old. He was afraid he would fall before he could get into the shelter,” said Rodriguez.
Near the entrance to this shelter lay a large branch of a nearby tree, and the gutter in someone else’s house was swinging from the remaining branches of the tree. But remarkably, Rodriguez said the power lines remained up and the family briefly lost power Friday night, but OG&E quickly repaired the power line.
In Shawnee, township areas north of Interstate-40 showed damage, including a canopy ripped off its foundation, at a local EZ Mart at Westech Road and Oklahoma Highway 18. The canopy crashed into a nearby utility pole, which OG&E workers were trying to repair.
The National Weather Service confirmed Friday that the tornado indicated by radar had hit the area, but the damage assessment has not yet been completed to provide a rating.
Contributed by Josh Kelly, Staff Writer
This article was first published in The Oklahoman: Southwest OKC, Shawnee residents begin cleaning up after overnight storms
