The most serious tornado warning, a Tornado Emergency, was issued for Oklahoma’s Osage County. A “large and destructive tornado” was reportedly approaching Barnsdall and wreaking havoc, according to the NWS.
BARNSDALL, Oklahoma – One person has died after a powerful tornado that raced through a tiny community northeast of Oklahoma City on Monday night wrecked homes and uprooted power lines.
Barnsdall, a community of roughly 1,000 residents 40 minutes north of Tulsa, was destroyed just after 9:30 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. Damage consistent with at least an EF-4 level tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale was discovered by a storm survey team on Tuesday. In the last five weeks, the community has seen two tornadoes.
Joy King described how she felt pressure in her ears that quickly became louder. “It just hit all of a sudden,” she said. Then the entrance to the storm basement where she was sheltering flew open, sending flying debris everywhere. “I even had it latched to a bolt in the floor, and it just ripped it off.”
For around half an hour, King and her small puppy curled up in a corner. She thought about going, but her husband told her there was another cell coming in, so she stayed behind.
“We’re alive,” she said. “Thank God, we’re alive.”
As the storm moved into Oklahoma on Monday night, Osage County received a Tornado Emergency warning—the worst kind—for the area. A “large and destructive tornado” was reportedly approaching Barnsdall and wreaking havoc, according to the NWS.
‘It is chaos in town’
Osage County Emergency Management Director Jerry Roberts told FOX Weather that Oklahoma Task Force 1 Tulsa, along with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and crews from numerous jurisdictions, arrived in Barnsdall overnight to aid in the search for survivors.
“Right now, we have a big area of total destruction,” Roberts added.
In the Barnsdall region, up to forty homes were destroyed, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Numerous highways were closed as a result of multiple complaints of debris and natural gas leaks in roadways.
ALSO READ:
On the southwest edge of town, the tornado struck the Barnsdall Nursing Home directly.
The institution posted on Facebook, asking for prayers while it emphasized that all of the inmates were safe and had not been hurt. “Due to a gas leak that emergency workers were unable to stop, they were all taken to the football field house. The town is in disarray.”
The NWS in Tulsa issued 13 tornado warnings on Monday, including the Tornado Emergency for Barnsdall, which was just the second one in history. Since 2008, this was the first tornado to strike Barnsdall directly.
