Carter County Oklahoma
History Lone Grove survivors recall tornado — Mike Graham,
47, of Lone Grove, went
to check on
his parents at their
single-story frame home. He and his
parents
gathered in
the center
hallway, and the tornado struck the home. "My ears
pressured as it came school," he said. The home was
destroyed, but he and his
parents
survived. His mobile
home, which is nearby, was destroyed,
as was a
brick home
next door to his
mobile home. — Matt Opsahl, 25, was watching
television
news in his mobile home when he saw that a
tornado was
approaching
Lone Grove. Opsahl, his wife,
their 3-year-old daughter and his wife’s mother
quickly
went to a hallway. The
tornado blew off some walls and part of the frame
of the
home. A washing machine hit Opsahl, but he was not
seriously injured. All
of his family
suffered bruises and
scratches. Still, Opsahl’s daughter
said,
“That was fun.”
One of
Opsahl’s two trucks was blown to the other side of the
mobile home park and his mother-in-law’s car was flipped
onto its top. When
asked what he
plans to do next, Opsahl
shrugged his shoulders and said,
“We’ll
start over. I’ll
buy me
another home.” — Mike Wolford doesn’t know if his home
survived. “We don’t know much; they won’t let anybody back
there,” Wolford said.
“I know
nothing about my place until
I see it. My girlfriend just
called, and
they won’t let
anyone in
until this evening.” Wolford was in Lone Grove,
standing in a convenience store parking lot at Brock
Road
and U.S. 70. Wolford
left his
mobile home in Lone Grove
and drove to Ardmore about 10
minutes before
the tornado
struck
the city. Within 15 minutes, he saw about 25 carloads of
people leave the trailer park where he lived. “I have
never see anything like
that,”
Wolford said. — Lana
Hartman and seven others were
huddled in a small closet,
about 6
feet tall by 4 feet wide, in their one-story
brick
house when they felt the tornado roar past their house. No
one in their
home was hurt. Hartman said they could feel
wind
underneath the closet door. A
teenager in the closet began
rising
off the ground, and others had to hold her
down by
grabbing her T-shirt. Hartman moved into the house on
Tuesday, just
hours before the tornado struck. Hartman’s
house is next
to the remains of
John’s Furniture. This morning, couches
and recliners remain lined up in the
store, but several
walls and part of
the tin roof and insulation is missing. John Taliaferro has
owned the store
for 37 years.
February
10, 2009 will be a date not forgotten by the small
community of Lone Grove, when
the
town was devasted by a
tornado with the loss of not only
homes and
possessions,
but also the
loss of eight people. An ariticle from the
Daily Oklahoman below describes what this small community
went thru.
ARDMORE
— Three people
have been found alive
but trapped in a Lone Grove home
this
morning, hours after
a tornado
killed eight people and injured 14 in this
community
of about 5,000 people.
Lone Grove tornado Feb 11 At least 8 reported dead
near Ardmore, Okla.
As of 2 p.m., it was not
known if the
trapped victims had been freed or if they were injured,
but the
news that survivors had been found was a bright
spot after
a long, dark night of
fear. Last night, distraught Carter
County Sheriff Ken Grace
reported 15
dead in Lone Grove.
That total dropped to eight this
morning, as
officials
were able to
get a more accurate tally. A spokeswoman for the state
medical examiner’s office said no children are among the
dead. Victims’ names
have not been
released. “We know we
have lost many lives in Lone Grove,
and we
pray the losses
do not rise
any higher,” Gov. Brad Henry said this morning.
“We are
doing everything we can to help the victims of
yesterday’s
tornadoes. We
have dispatched state emergency
management personnel and additional law
enforcement
officers to the
hardest-hit areas ... to assist with response
efforts
there. “We are coordinating resources with local
first
responders and
emergency management officials to
make sure our response and rescue efforts are
as effective
as possible. We will do
everything we can to get Oklahomans the
assistance they
need.” Sheriff’s officials said Lone Grove
was devastated
when a
tornado estimated to be a half-mile
wide tore through the middle of town,
ripping buildings
from slabs,
demolishing dozens of mobile homes and snapping
trees and
power lines in its path. “It looks just like any
tornado
footage you
see on TV,” said Oklahoma Highway
Patrol Trooper
Bryant Harris, who
lives in Lone Grove.
“There’s nothing left ... twisted
metal,
cars turned
upside down, cars
in trees.” Harris and his family rode out the
storm in a
tornado shelter. The search for survivors was
suspended
about 1 a.m.
and resumed today at daybreak. Last
night, Carter County officials freed people
from debris
and wrecked cars and
marked each area that had been searched with a
bright
orange X, but Grace said they ran out of light and
manpower. As many as
60 mobile homes
in a single park were
damaged by the tornado, according to
Lone
Grove Emergency
Management.
About 4 mobile home parks in Lone Grove, including
Bar-K
Mobile Home Park, were extensively damaged, Elfert
said.
The town lost its
only furniture store on U.S. 70,
and all that was left of the
chamber
of commerce, next
door to John’s Furniture, was a slab and
scattered
debris.
The UPS building,
also on U.S. 70, lost part of its roof. Much of Lone
Grove
was without power through the night. The neighboring
community of Ardmore,
which has a
higher population, was
largely spared. Sheriff’s officials
said an
area north of
Ardmore was
hit and a private school, Beavers Academy, was damaged. The
highway patrol is assisting the search in Lone Grove
today, and National Guard troops are being
mobilized to
help with security,
according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency
Management. Baptist Disaster Relief is offering food and
counseling
to people in Lone Grove.
In addition to Lone
Grove, confirmed tornadoes caused
damage in Edmond and
Pawnee, the
Oklahoma
Department of Emergency Management
said. In Edmond, six homes were destroyed
near W Sorghum
Mill Road and N Kelly
Avenue. Additional damage was reported in
near Northwest
Expressway and Rockwell Avenue.
CONTRIBUTING:
Staff Writers
Brian
Sargent, Ron
Jackson,
Carrie
Coppernoll and Ken
Raymond
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