NORMAN, Okla. (KOKH) — Norman families are clearing debris and repairing their homes after a tornado hit the northeast part of the city Wednesday night.
According to the National Weather Service, the EF1 tornado cut a nearly eight mile path, uprooting trees and tearing roofs from homes.
“Nobody’s hurt, thank goodness,” said Lindsey Blake, whose home was damaged. “A lot of our siding got ripped off and our garage got blown apart.”
Blake wasn’t at home when the tornado hit, but her husband was.
“He said he was sitting here and the screen door shot open,” she said. “The whole carport started shaking and he ran straight into the closet and hoped it stayed together. He said the walls were cracking and it sounded like a freight train.”
The tornado also uprooted many of the neighbors’ trees and sent trampolines and swing sets flying.
“You can just tell it kind of shot through the neighborhood,” said Blake.
The National Weather Service spent the morning surveying and documenting all of the damage, in order to get a better idea of how the tornado behaved.
“Exactly where the tornado started, where it ended, how long the path was and the intensity of the tornado,” said Rick Smith, a warning coordination meteorologist at the NWS.
He also looks at storm chaser video, emergency management reports, and radar data to confirm a tornado. The NWS will be busy studying the round of severe weather that went through the state Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
“We’ve really only confirmed with great detail one tornado, the Norman tornado,” he said. “There’s several others we know probably happened, but we just don’t have the details yet.”
EF1 damage was also discovered west and southwest of Loveland in Tillman County. The NWS is collecting more information on “likely tornadoes” near Amber, Macomb and Lone Wolf from Wednesday’s storms. They say a “likely tornado” also touched down in Ada early Thursday.
The NWS appreciates the public’s help in the damage survey process. Sharing photos and locations of damage helps them a lot.
by Austin Prickett & Caroline Vandergriff (2018, May 3) KOKH
