IE 11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

FEMA, SBA Visit Oklahoma Area Damaged by April Tornado

Residents are cleaning up after the EF-2 tornado that struck Haileyville and part of Pittsburg County on April 30. Officials from the state Office of Emergency Management and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma were also on hand.

tornado
Shutterstock/Minerva Studio
(TNS) — Robert Huff stood in front of his grandparents' heavily damaged residence on Tuesday, his eyes reflecting the tiredness and frustration resulting from ongoing efforts to clean up in the wake of the tornado that struck Haileyville and portions of rural Pittsburg County on April 30.

The Huff home is in the rural Lone Oak area north of Hartshorne, off Woodlawn Drive. A number of homes in the area along Woodlawn Drive and Spears Lane sustained major damage, leaving some of them uninhabitable. Damaged residences ranged from wooden structures to mobile homes along with some stone and brick houses.

Huge trees lay strewn around the area like huge matchsticks, some completely uprooted and others snapped in two. The tops of other trees had obviously twisted off when struck by rotating winds.

Some plowed into houses. At one residence, a large tree is still atop a compact car it smashed into when it fell over.

At the Huff residence, Robert Huff told McAlester/Pittsburg County Office of Emergency Management Director Kevin Enloe that no one has been able to live in the residence since the storm hit last week.

"I'm sorry," Enloe said.

Enloe asked Huff if there was anything he needed.

"You might help us put in a roll-in," Huff said, referring to a large metal trash bin, the kind that's left on a property and can be picked up later.

Enloe said he would see what he could do, then the group moved on to the next damaged house.

The Huff home was one of many heavily damaged residences checked out by a special Preliminary Damage Assessment Team that traveled to the Hartshorne-Haileyville area on Tuesday to get an in-person look at the damage resulting from the April 30 tornado.

They included representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Administration and Small Business Administration, the Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. They were joined by the county Office of Emergency Management, as well as Haileyville police and fire personnel.

Team members were surveying the storm damage to see as much of it firsthand as possible. Damage reports will then be compiled to see if the county will qualify to access federal and state disaster funds. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is also working to help tribal members whose homes were damaged by the EF-2 tornado.

FEMA Individual Assistance Specialist Garry Sitze and Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management IAS member Rhlonsa Carey are part of the team. They were joined by Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Deputy Director of Emergency Response Rachel Nutter, who noted that a number of the damaged or destroyed homes are owned by tribal members.

"We're determining the extent of the damages," Sitze said. Some considerations in designating major damage includes determining whether more than 50 percent of a structure was damaged, if repairs would take more than 30 days, or if the damage was more cosmetic in nature.

Federal SBA representative Ahmed Hossain also participated in the tour of storm-damaged homes structures.

The SBA can help more than small businesses. Hossain assessed damages to homes and nonprofit organizations as well — all of which could qualify for federal assistance if a federal disaster designation is granted.

Although some team members have been in the area several times following the April 30 storm, Tuesday marked the first time all them toured the hard-hit areas together.

One of the first residences checked out Tuesday was the Howard O'Daniel home, also on Woodlawn Drive. O'Daniel, who is a former Emergency Management director, said there was some damage to his front porch and the front of the residence and that he lost a small barn in the back.

The group also stopped at the Nelson property on Woodlawn Drive. At one residence, Jay Nelson lives in a mobile home with his father, Pete Nelson, and sister, Vicki Barone.

Jay Nelson said he felt the tornado lift up the mobile home, but he thinks the home was saved by the last two ties attached to the structure. He said seeing people wanting to help in the wake of the storm is moving.

"The response from the community and the area has been fantastic," Jay Nelson said. "People come by and stop to help.  We're alive and OK."

"It's overwhelming," Vicki Barone said, thanking every team member who had stopped by the home. "We're so grateful just to survive it."

The News-Capital also spoke later with Huff, who said he's been cleaning up every day since the tornado occurred on the night of April 30.

"There's no electricity, no water," he said. "The house was lifted up off its foundation and the roof's caved in."

Huff said he had been in his room at the residence, owned by his grandparents, Earnest and Joan Huff, when he heard the wind rapidly picking up on the night of April 30. He looked out the window and saw trees whipping over, Huff said.

"It sounded like ice on the roof," he said. Huff said he headed toward the kitchen.

"The house started shaking," he said. "It blew out all the windows and part of the roof caved in." In addition to his grandparents, his cousin and aunt also lived in the home, he said.

For now, they are staying with other family members, Huff said.

After completing the storm damage survey along Woodlawn Drive and Spears Lane in the Lone Oak area, the group planned to assess damage in Haileyville and points south. More damage was reported along Collins Road, Ray Road and on a portion of State Highway 63 to the west.

When it's all completed, team members will pool their results.

"We will have a meeting when we will determine whether this is a federal disaster," said Enloe.

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com
___
(c)2019 the McAlester News-Capital (McAlester, Okla.)

Visit the McAlester News-Capital (McAlester, Okla.) at mcalesternews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.