BARNSDALL — Along State Highway 123, just outside of town, a house owned by Tim and Joy King was blown about 20 yards off its foundation.
Joy King, 56, wearing a pink tie-dye shirt that said “blessed,” was surveying the damage done to her property with her husband, Tim, and their dog, Wendy. King said she took cover in the home’s cellar while her husband was at work at a nearby plant.
As the tornado came through, the cellar door blew open and began to fill with water up to her ankles. Insulation began blowing around her.
“I thought, ‘Lord, that’s my house.'”
The Kings’ home was just one of dozens that were damaged or destroyed in the at least EF3 deadly tornado that tore through the small city of Barnsdall in Osage County, before leaving destruction in Bartlesville to the northeast.
The devastating storm left at least one person dead in Barnsdall, and at least one person was still missing Tuesday afternoon in the city of about 1,400, according to the Osage County Sheriff’s Office.
The law enforcement agency requested the public’s help via a social media post in locating Wayne Hogue, who they say went missing after the tornado.
It’s the second time Barnsdall was affected by a tornado this year, after another tornado damaged homes on April 1.
“It’s very tough,” Mayor Johnny Kelley told reporters Tuesday. “The toughest thing on me as the mayor is, this is a small community. I know 75 to 80% of the people in this town. The individual that we lost, I knew them very well.”
By the time the storm reached Bartlesville, the tornado had merged with a front-line storm and was weakened. Oklahoma state Rep. Judd Strom, R-Bartlesville, told the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise that local emergency management had been preparing for an EF4 tornado to rip across the city.
At least five tornadoes have been confirmed in Oklahoma from Monday night’s storms, including the Barnsdall tornado and four in the National Weather Service’s Norman forecast area — those tornadoes were in or near the towns of Helena, Okeene, Bison and Covington. Damage survey teams will determine if more are to be added to that list.
Meteorologist Joe Sellers, who works with the weather service’s Tulsa office, said a survey of the damage in Osage County would “take a while.”
Barnsdall woman safe in storm cellar as house ripped away
Natasha Coday, 39, the Kings’ daughter, looked up at her parent’s house in Barnsdall and pointed to where it had been forced from its foundation.
“It was right here,” she said. “That tornado just pushed it up and moved it over there.”
Coday was in Bartlesville during the storm and stayed on the phone with her mother as the tornado moved through Barnsdall.
“God really, really took care of them last night,” she said. The Kings’ pontoon had blown into the back of the property, a pickup had been tossed upside down and part of their camper was thrown into a tree.
King said she swore more than a month ago she’d never go back in the cellar, after getting trapped in it during the April 1 tornado that went through Barnsdall. But when the storm came through Monday night, King said she felt she “needed to” get back in.
Amid all the destruction, a photo album of Joy and Tim King’s wedding was saved.
Barnsdall community needs ‘prayers’
During an initial search Monday night after the tornado, about 25 people were rescued, including children. A secondary search took place Tuesday morning for some people still unaccounted for.
Seven or eight people were injured, including one firefighter who was experiencing chest pains, Kelley said.
“We’re worried about our neighbors and our friends that have lost loved ones,” Kelley said. “To me, material things are material. We can replace them. The loss of life is forever.”
When asked what the community needs at this time, Kelley answered, “we need prayers.”
Carl Kelley, 55, rode out the storm in a closet with his mother, 80. Two mounted deer heads were lying in the yard as he tried to unlock his gun safe Tuesday morning.
The tornado shredded his house with debris thrown across the yard and in the trees. The trees were either bent or knocked over, and power lines knocked down around the property.
“I didn’t think it was that bad until I looked up and didn’t see the roof,” he said.
Bartlesville sees significant tornado damage but no fatalities
In its wake, the tornado left several Bartlesville streets closed Tuesday due to downed power lines and fallen trees, said City Manager Mike Bailey and Washington County Emergency Management Director Kary Cox.
The storm caused significant structural damage to buildings, utilities and trees, especially in southwest Bartlesville near the Circle Mountain area and northeast sections along U.S. 75 and Tuxedo, impacting homes and businesses.
Despite the extensive damage, no fatalities or serious injuries have been reported.
Emergency response teams, including police, fire and street departments, were deployed after the storm struck.
Several rescues, including guests trapped at the Hampton Inn on N U.S. 75, were successfully conducted by the combined efforts of Bartlesville, Dewey and Copan fire departments.
Barnsdall mayor says residents’ weather preparation, awareness saved lives
Kelley, the Barnsdall mayor, said he believes the fatality count was low thanks to his community staying “weather aware,” as the day was predicted to see numerous severe storms and a potential tornado outbreak.
“I attribute that to people paying attention to the weather and the warnings,” Kelley said. “And when the sirens were blowing and the warnings were given out over their cellphones and over their TVs, that they took cover and did what they needed to do to keep safe.”
A portion of central and northern Oklahoma was given the rare “high” risk categorization for severe storms and multiple strong tornadoes by the weather service’s Storm Prediction Center. So far, the number of tornadoes is much lower than the outbreak of April 27 when 30 tornadoes were confirmed in Oklahoma.
During that outbreak, the office of the chief medical examiner reported four storm-related fatalities: two in Holdenville while in a mobile home, one on Interstate 35 near Marietta while in a vehicle and one fatality in Sulphur in a business.
Thompson said while some may feel Monday’s event did not live up to the risk level warned, it’s all “a matter of perception.”
Contributing: Alexia Aston, The Oklahoman
