OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Some metro residents tell News 4 they’re thankful to be alive after an early morning tornado tore through their southeast neighborhood.
Oklahoma City police initially blocked off a majority of the damage just west of Southeast 89th and Sooner Road Sunday morning, eventually letting News 4 crews close to see the devastation.
“I didn’t know what to think of what was going on,” said Cherry Haggard, who told News 4 her and her husband were woken up to the storm by strong winds and the sounds of their own windows shattering.
The Haggard’s say they had some rough damage that was leaking into the home due to the sheer amount of early morning rainfall. Their Volkswagen also took a beating with a broken window, headlight and side mirror.
Daniel Haggard, Cherry’s husband, told News 4 Cherry wasn’t hurt and he only walked away with a scrape.
“From a tree branch,” said Haggard. “I moved the piece of metal and then I slipped on it, cut my arm on the top of that branch.”
Sunday morning daylight painted a clearer picture of the destruction. Oklahoma City Fire says several homes were damaged, others clearly a total loss. 11 people were hurt in total, but none of those injuries were serious.
An estimate of property damage has not been conducted yet, and multiple power lines and signage have been knocked down in the area. Utility crews were on the scene Sunday morning, but at the time of publication, no details had been shared on debris pickup for streets where homeowners could not physically get out of their driveways.
A lot of residents spending time Sunday focused on cleaning up what they could, despite heavy rain and at one point hail that complicated those efforts.
Jennifer Mancheva told News 4 the damage was surreal to see in the place she’s called her home for over a decade.
“I didn’t hear anything except a loud boom,” said Mancheva. “I mean, there was a low risk [of severe weather]. It’s like, wow, uh, yeah, that was fast.”
Mancheva said the damage to her home was tied to an upper bedroom and storage space. She said below the upper bedroom are two other bedrooms and there’s leakage in her home as well.
“I think it’s going to be demolishing, it’ll be demolished probably,” said Mancheva.
She said she’s just lucky to be alive, and that her neighbors have been helpful as well. She said some of them even offered tarps.
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt reacted in a social media statement. You can read that statement below:
It appears that tornados touched down in OKC early this morning, at approximately 1:30 a.m. Two areas with the most severe damage are both in Southeast OKC: 1) near Sooner Road and I-240 and 2) Triple X Road between SE 44th and SE 59th. First responders were on the scene quickly and are continuing their response. They report no fatalities, some injuries and some severely damaged homes. Our thoughts are with our neighbors affected by this overnight severe weather.
David Holt, Mayor of Oklahoma City
