Published: April 26, 2009 10:42 pm         

County residents survive 4 tornadoes

Many residents of North Enid and Enid area towns think they dodged a bullet Saturday night, when as many as four tornadoes touched down in Garfield County.

Although damage was widespread, none was extensive, and no serious injuries were reported, said Mike Honigsberg, Enid and Garfield County Emergency Management Director.

Hongisberg said by his count one tornado struck northern Enid and North Enid, one hit in the Hillsdale area and two struck in and around Kremlin.

“We had people on all of them,” he said.

He estimates the strength of the twisters at EF-1, EF-0 and EF-3, respectively.

Officials with National Weather Service, in Norman, said their preliminary reports show three tornadoes — the North Enid and Kremlin twisters — but they have not yet measured their strength.

Forrest Mitchell, NWS observations program leader, said they would try to send someone to the area to assess the damage and make a determination as to storm strength as soon as possible.

Emergency personnel started scrambling around 10 p.m. Saturday when a tornado struck Chisholm Trail Expo Center in northern Enid and continued to cause damage in North Enid.

Several of the 340 vendors of Enid Home Show, which was housed in the Expo Center, sustained damage to their businesses and products as part of the roof was blown off the Coliseum in the north part of the facility and garage doors were ripped off the Pavilion area on the south side.

Damage still is being assessed, Expo Center officials said, and no estimate was given. Expo Center Manager Steve Barnes did say the garage doors were worth about $7,500 each. Insurance will cover the building but not the vendor items.

In North Enid, homes sustained roof damage, windows were blown out and extensive tree and fence damage was evident, said Mayor Matt Miller. Electric lines were down throughout the area. A gun club was damaged heavily, with the roof and one wall destroyed.

Officials said the worst area hit was Shady Lane, directly north of the Expo Center. United Suppliers lost its roof, and a car wash on 4th Street saw major damage. Cimarron Valley Red Cross reported they were assisting four families from the Shady Lane mobile home park left homeless by the storms.

Miller, who was working on his own damaged home, said he did not know of extensive widespread damage.

He said OG&E Electric Services has been working in the area since 3 a.m.

“There was nobody hurt, and everything else will be put back together,” he said.

Lt. Shon Jackson, of Garfield County Sheriff’s Department, said a home near Great Lakes and 66th lost its roof and several outbuildings and barns were leveled in the area.

In Kremlin, a welding shop had damage and several power poles were laid over. U.S. 81 was closed around 2 a.m. north of Enid due to power poles and lines in the roadway. The highway re-opened later that morning. Honigsberg said some livestock also was lost in the storms.

“We were extremely lucky,” Jackson said.

Former State Rep. Curt Roggow, a resident of Hillsdale, said there was little damage to his town. A community storm shelter in the basement of Hillsdale Christian School was full of people, he said.

The tornadoes were the first to hit the Enid area this year. Honigsberg said 10 tornadoes touched down in Garfield County last year.

Tornadoes and high wind were not the only weather-related issues northwest Oklahomans faced overnight Saturday, as power outages and flooding caused issues throughout the area.

More severe weather passed through the area throughout the day Sunday.

More than 500 people still were without power Sunday afternoon in Enid and Kremlin after peak outages of 1,700 overnight, according to John Little, OG&E regional manager. Little said North Enid was expected to have power restored Sunday, but Kremlin wasn’t expected to be restored until today.

Turkey Creek flooded the north portion of U.S. 412 early Sunday east of Lahoma, and the water had spilled into nearby farmland and was raging out of the creekbeds.

After receiving more than 6 inches of rain in the past 24 hours, according to the state’s Mesonet reporting site, a Grant County Sheriff’s Department dispatcher said area roads were flooded in addition to U.S. and state highways surrounding Medford, the county seat.

A News & Eagle paper carrier’s vehicle was swept off the roadway while she was attempting to deliver to Pond Creek residents, said Jeff Funk, newspaper publisher, and a later attempt to deliver those papers failed because of roads closed due to flooding.

Road closures were reported throughout the day Sunday, including U.S. 81 north and south of Pond Creek.

D’Lisa Phillips with the Grant County Sheriff’s Department said several roads closed also included Red Hill, Trenton and M&M and Oklahoma 132 and 74.

Major County also saw flooding in the Fairview area. Major County sustained wind damage as well, with trees blown down and roofs and barns damaged, mostly north of Fairview, according to the sheriff’s department.

Woods County apparently escaped damage Saturday, and neither Blaine nor Alfalfa counties reported any storm damage. Alfalfa County did have some flooding, officials said, but those areas were clear by Sunday afternoon. However, it was raining hard in Cherokee, the county seat of Alfalfa County around 4 p.m. officials said, and more rain is expected throughout the week.

Today’s forecast includes a 20 percent chance of storms that continues through tonight, according to the National Weather Service. A cold front is expected to move through Tuesday, and high temperatures only will reach into the upper-60s. Chances for storms increase to 50 percent Tuesday and extend throughout the weekend, according to NWS.