ENID, Okla. — Raeann Hunt scrambled to her cellar as a tornado bore down on her Oklahoma community.
“It is headed right for us,” she recalled thinking, as she peeked outside, unable to contain her curiosity.
Huddled inside the dark 8-by-8-foot (2.44-by-2.44 meters) concrete shelter with her husband, brother-in-law and a neighbor, she heard roaring, metal slapping on the door and glass breaking.
Afterward, they emerged unscathed, but found the windows smashed out of the one-story brick home in Enid and the roof badly damaged.
The scene was repeated Thursday night across the city of about 50,000 people about 85 miles north of Oklahoma City as the EF-4 tornado hit. It was on the ground for 9 miles (14.48 kilometers), packing winds of 170 to 175 mph and measuring 500 yards across at its widest, said Rick Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
For those 30 to 40 minutes, at least 40 homes were damaged, some blown off their foundations. But no one was killed and only minor injuries were reported.
“People around here have a plan,” Hunt explained, noting that residents of this tornado-alley state are trained to either take shelter in a room near the center of their home or get underground.
Basements aren’t common in Oklahoma because of the red clay soil and elevated water tables that make it difficult and expensive to install them, but many homes – like Hunt’s – have storm cellars or safe rooms with reinforced concrete walls where people can take cover.
People here also know to flip on the TV and set up weather alerts on their phones – particularly in the springtime, when the risk of violent twisters is highest.
“Especially in Oklahoma, we have great meteorologists,” said Justin Hunt of Enid, who described the storm’s aftermath as a “disaster.”
Storm leaves rubble in its wake
Commercial buildings just south of the city were turned into a pile of twisted metal, splintered wood and insulation by powerful winds that pushed the buildings completely off the concrete foundations.
The tornado knocked down utility poles and left power lines wrapped with huge chunks of debris. A home had part of its metal roof torn off and trees were left stripped of bark and limbs. At another home, a section of one wall had peeled away to reveal the interior of the home with some furniture still in place.
“Usually when we come to a neighborhood that’s been hit this bad, there’s one or two deaths,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said during a news conference Friday. “We’re just so thankful there wasn’t a loss of life.”
People pick through rubble, clear away debris
Police and fire departments and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol conducted multiple home searches, rescuing some trapped residents, Enid Mayor David Mason said Friday.
“Supplies have poured in already,” Mason posted online. “This is who Enid is in challenging moments – we continue to show up for one another.”
Dave Lamerton of Enid spent Friday morning salvaging what was left of his son Joseph’s woodworking shop just south of the city, along with some family members and a group of volunteers who traveled from Kansas to help with cleanup.
“The tornado just swung right through here and just hit us directly,” Lamerton said, pointing to a giant mess of splintered wood beams, furniture, debris and heavy machinery that was pushed into a massive pile at the edge of the building’s foundation. “We’ve got stuff on the property we can’t even find.”
Meteorologists describe powerful storm system
One striking image from Thursday’s storms shows a tornado in the Enid area with a dark clouds of debris extending in V-shape on either side. That is typical of higher-end tornadoes, according to Mark Fox, the meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service’s office in Norman.
It has such a violent motion as winds pick up dirt, debris and things like parts of people’s houses.
“If you start seeing things like this, you know it’s a violent tornado,” he said.
Neighboring counties also reported some flooded roads and barn damage. The National Weather Service was sending two crews out Friday to do damage surveys related to six potential tornadoes in the Enid and Braman areas of north-central Oklahoma, meteorologist John Pike said.
Air force base is damaged
Fences and some equipment were knocked down at nearby Vance Air Force Base, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) north of Oklahoma City. The base was closed until further notice “due to ongoing power and water restoration efforts,” it posted online Friday.
Everyone assigned to the base has been accounted for and no injuries were reported, 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs Chief Ashley D. Hendricks said in an email Friday.
More bad weather possible
More storms are possible through Friday night across south-central and southeast Oklahoma, the weather service said. Strong to severe thunderstorms are expected to develop Saturday, including in the Enid area.
It was a stormy night in other states, too. In Kearney, Missouri, north of Kansas City, officials reported downed trees, debris blocking roadways and damage to homes on Thursday night after storms passed through the area. Officials said in a social media post that no injuries had been reported. Crews worked to make roads passable by early Friday and were expected to continue cleanup efforts during the day.
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Associated Press writers Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, and Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland, contributed to this report.
