Tulsa World: Dozens of homes lost

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Dozens of homes lost
Authorities begin assessing Picher's tornado damage and drop the death toll to six.

Sally Lane (foreground) looks at a jewelry box recovered from the wreckage of her home in Picher by her neighbor Katrina Sharbutt (background). Lanes home was one of hundreds destroyed by Saturdays storm. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World

By SARA PLUMMER World Staff Writer
Published: 5/13/2008 2:06 AM
Last Modified: 2/12/2009 9:03 AM

Slide shows: Tornado damage in Picher

Tornado damage in Picher 2

Authorities begin assessing Picher's tornado damage and drop the death toll to six.

PICHER — More than 150 homes were reported destroyed or damaged as federal, state and local teams began Monday to assess damage from a major tornado that tore through Picher on Saturday.

As of Monday night, officials said, 114 homes had been destroyed, 30 sustained major damage, seven had minor damage and 16 others had superficial damage.

It took teams less than an hour Monday to declare more than 100 homes destroyed and many others damaged by the tornado, which the National Weather Service's office in Tulsa classified as EF-4, with winds of 166 to 200 mph.

Officials reduced the death toll in Picher on Monday to six from seven, citing a miscommunication among officials on Sunday.

"Due to poor cell phone reception, authorities (on Sunday) were confirming an erroneous total death count from Saturday's tornado at seven," said Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

The state Medical Examiner's Office said

six adults — two men and four women — died in the tornado, Ooten said.

Officials said another person died Monday of carbon monoxide poisoning while using a generator in a garage.

About 150 people were injured. Of those, 47 were taken to Baptist Regional Health Center in nearby Miami. Most were treated and released, but 12 people were admitted and two with more serious injuries were taken to other hospitals, a hospital spokeswoman said.

A spokeswoman for St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa said two people hurt in the tornado were admitted.

A spokeswoman for Freeman Hospital in Joplin, Mo., said it treated 52 people — two of whom died from their injuries. It wasn't immediately clear how many of the injured from Oklahoma were taken to hospitals in Joplin. At least 12 people were killed and scores injured in additional tornadoes in Missouri on Saturday.

Officials from Integris Grove Hospital in Grove and St. John medical centers in Tulsa and Joplin did not return calls Monday.

It was not immediately clear how many of the damaged or destroyed homes were vacant, as the federal government is engaged in a buyout of homes in Picher due to health problems stemming from past mining in the Tar Creek Superfund site, which includes Picher. Some residents had completed a buyout or were in the buyout process when the tornado struck.

Ooten said the assessment teams, which include officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the state Department of Emergency Management, Ottawa County Emergency Management and Picher Fire Department, would determine whether the area qualifies for individual and public assistance.

Those figures will be sent to Gov. Brad Henry, who can then request federal disaster aid.

"Oklahoma has been through this so many times, we know how it goes," Ooten said.

A disaster declaration would result in grants and low-interest disaster loans for residents, she said.

A FEMA spokesman, Earl Armstrong, said Picher would be treated "just like any other town."

He said the buyout would not factor into any federal disaster declaration.

Henry, who toured the area Sunday, will accompany Michael Chertoff, the director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; FEMA Administrator David Paulison; U.S. Sen Jim Inhofe and U.S. Rep. Dan Boren when they visit the area Tuesday.

Henry said Monday that President Bush called him Sunday afternoon.

"He said they were going to do everything they could," Henry said.

Bush expressed his condolences to the families who lost loved ones, he said.

"He expressed a sincere desire to be here," Henry said, adding that Bush is scheduled to travel to Israel this week.

"He did say that Homeland Security and FEMA would be on top of it, and they would get us federal relief as quickly as possible," Henry said.

The state is "doing everything we can possibly do," he said, adding that authorities are first making sure that everyone is safe, has received treatment and has basic needs met.

Houses in Picher that were not destroyed were expected to have water, and some to have electricity, by Monday night, officials said.

Cleanup

Residents began picking through the remains of their homes Monday.

Sally Lane was ecstatic when a former neighbor found her photo albums.

"Bless you, bless you," Lane said with her hands clasped. "My picture albums is one of the things that I never thought I'd see again."

Lane, 71, said she wasn't sure that she would ever see her family again as the tornado destroyed her home while she took cover and then was trapped in the bathroom. Neighbors heard her calling for help and rescued her.

"Isn't that amazing," she said. "I call them my guardian angels."

Lane said she didn't recognize the neighborhood she has lived in for more than 30 years.

"They sat me down on the driveway. I looked around and said 'Is that my house?'" she said.

Robin Cawyer, who moved from Picher last year, had a similar feeling when she arrived in her hometown to help family members go through debris.

"This is where I was born and raised," she said. "When we were coming down the highway I didn't even know where we were."

Some of the hardest hit areas look like the scenes of bomb blasts, with trees stripped of leaves and bark. Clothes, plastic bags and pieces of metal siding blew about in the breeze.

Heather Richardson returned to her home in Picher on Saturday night after taking cover in Miami during the storm.

"We got home and it was devastating," she said.

Her home is gone, but some of her belongings were saved. So were the family's two dogs, who rode out the storm inside the house.

"We were able to salvage a lot of stuff; baby stuff and pictures that can't be replaced," she said.

Richardson, like many of her neighbors, are staying with nearby relatives until they can find another home.

"We have a good family. They've given us a lot of support," she said.

Nellie Kelly, a spokeswoman for Tulsa's chapter of the American Red Cross, said just eight people spent Sunday night at a Red Cross shelter set up in Miami.

"That's good, because that means they have family they can stay with," she said of other survivors.

Doug Severs traveled from Illinois to Picher to attend a wedding reception Saturday night.

He said everyone was getting ready for the party when the tornado hit the Mineral Heights neighborhood south of town. He and four other people crammed into a bathroom for shelter.

Severs said there was only one thing he could do when everyone emerged unharmed.

"Thank God. What else could you do?" he said. "My wife was praying hard in that tub."

World correspondent Brenda Luthy and World staff writer Matt Barnard contributed to this story.

Sara Plummer 581-8465
sara.plummer@tulsaworld.com

Those killed

The following people died in Saturday’s tornado in Picher, according to the state Medical Examiner’s Office, which released their names, ages and hometowns Monday night:

Samuel Don Berry, 20, Picher Tracy Dawn Berry, 19, Picher

Darrell Edward Patterson II, 28, Wagoner

Chizuri Cox, 80, Picher

Mistie Dawn Kelley, 30, Picher

Linda Christine Mathis, 48, Picher

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To see all of the Tulsa World slide shows, go to tulsaworld.com/photos. By SARA PLUMMER World Staff Writer

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	Report Comment dana johnson, tulsa (5/13/2008 5:11:49 AM) there are people who are left with nothing. they have lost their families, homes and belongings. as a people we need to not only lend a helping hand but also our prayers.
	Report Comment j.muhle, Miami, OK (5/13/2008 10:20:32 AM) This was my first tornado and I was scared to death I didn't know where to go or what to do for me and my children. Every town needs to have better information posted for events like this.
	Report Comment Heather, Commerce (5/13/2008 10:49:58 AM) What a blessing it is to be able to call Picher, Oklahoma my hometown. I grew up on those streets, was educated for 13 years in Picher schools, attended the same little Baptist church for my entire life, saw those wonderful faces everyday as I worked myself through college in one of Picher's last convenience stores. The people there are are so strong. They have been through so much and yet they lean on each other. It has been so hard to see faces that I knew growing up having to say good bye to each other as one by one they are forced to move from the only place a lot of them have ever called home as result of the federal buyout. Now they are having to pick up the pieces of what is left of their memories as a result of this terrible tornado. Picher is such a part of who I am today. I am praying for you all.
	Report Comment JM, (5/13/2008 12:03:06 PM) I have a vacant 3/2 Condo in West Palm Beach Florida that I'm willing to rent for 50% off the market price (about $500/ month) to help a family in need of housing. Any information about what organization should I reach to help them?
	Report Comment michael , tulsa (5/13/2008 12:09:21 PM) AL, are you sure your from tulsa? i know an al from bristow & he is pretty much an idiot too! tornadoes happen, global warming does not affect this...you need to put the crack pipe down & get some help! im tired of seeing the same post on several different articles! i dont know about anyone else but my mother is a human being not the planet earth......i think you would fit in better if you moved to the granola state! (that would be california, the land of fruits, nuts & flakes!)
	Report Comment kim, nebraska (5/13/2008 1:31:54 PM) I just wanted to know how anyone who just lost everything could even afford a 500.00 a month condo!
	Report Comment v, Tulsa (5/13/2008 4:50:56 PM) My heart goes to the families. I am really upset with our government for helping other countries that do not want aid from us and doing so little for these families.
	Report Comment Swanson, Off Jute Road (5/13/2008 8:57:00 PM) My husband, a neighbor and myself are survivors of the Iris Road tornado, we we on the road bringing back a Rare arabian stallion, and had been getting phone calls all afternoon with updates, we were at loves when the neighbor got a call saying a tornado was headed towards I44 exit 4, so we left and headed towards home, south right into the tornado path. We turned west on Iris Road and all we could see was the large black cloud, i remember my husband saying that was just a cloud, when we dropped off the small hill just east of Bethel Road, there it was on the ground about 1 block in front of us barring down. we turned south and was stopped in the roadway by a large branch, tennis size hail pounding us and the horse trailer with this rare stallion, we all just began praying and the winds picked up the branck and tossed it aside. We were able to drive on but in low gear as we were being pulled back into the tornado. Thank God were made it home about 1 mile away with little damage and the stallion calm. it was all very scarry, it is very hard to get that image out of my head, you could see stuff and dirt swirling in the twister right in front of us. We are so fortunate, and know several of the people on iris road and at the 43 intersection. God be with us all, this is just the beginning of worse things to come.

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