Pittsburg County Emergency Management Director Kevin Enloe told the News-Capital around 1 a.m. that multiple agencies responded to conflicting reports of damage to start assessing the damage.
He said the Tuesday night storms brought power outages, power flashes, downed trees that closed roadways, and damage to businesses and residences.
“We just don’t know the full extent,” Enloe said. “We have a lot of roads that are not passable. A lot of power lines down. There’s a lot of damage.”
Enloe urged Pittsburg County residents who sustained property damage during the storms to call Pittsburg County Emergency Management at 918-423-5655 to report damage.
The National Weather Service in Tulsa issued a tornado warning for southern Pittsburg County at 9:49 p.m. McAlester, Alderson and Hartshore sirens were activated soon afterward.
Pittsburg County Emergency Management staff confirmed a tornado on the ground around 10:46 p.m. in Haileyville.
Buildings in Haileyville were destroyed, roads in McAlester and across the county were flooded, and National Weather Service Tulsa reported NOAA Weather Radio WXL49 in McAlester lost power and went off the air around 11 p.m.
Enloe said seven fire departments from Pittsburg County responded to the area, as did West End and Wilburton Fire Departments, Pittsburg County Districts 1 and 2, and the Pittsburg County Sheriff’s Office.
Public Service Company of Oklahoma is responding to live downed power lines. Oklahoma Department of Transportation and Oklahoma Highway Patrol are working to clear roadways.
Pittsburg County Emergency Management reported around 11:09 p.m. that McAlester City Manager Pete Stasiak approved city of McAlester resources will be made available to the county.
The National Weather Service reported around 11:45 p.m. the NOAA Weather Radio WXL49 in McAlester came back on the air.
Pittsburg County Emergency Management said no damage was reported in Quinton by around 11:50 p.m.
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