Tulsa World: Struck Scarred in 1984 : April 26 twisters raked communities

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Struck Scarred in 1984 : April 26 twisters raked communities

Morris tornado damage as seen on April 27, 1984. Then-Gov. George Nigh, who toured the area by helicopter, said the site was "devastating, unreal, unbelievable." Tulsa World file

By MANNY GAMALLO World Staff Writer
Published: 4/26/2009 2:19 AM
Last Modified: 4/26/2009 6:01 AM

Tornado season in Oklahoma: Find out which Oklahoma tornadoes were the costliest and deadliest, get safety precaution tips and search Tulsa World databases of Oklahoma and nationwide tornadoes since 1950.

MORRIS — This community of 1,400 people east of Okmulgee has been around for more than 100 years, yet there is little in this town to show its true age.

And for good reason.

It was exactly 25 years ago that a monstrous tornado, without warning, dropped out of a stormy nighttime sky and obliterated nearly 80 percent of this community.

Eight people were killed and 95 were injured. The town's business district was gone, and so were hundreds of homes.

Morris wasn't alone in its pain and suffering that Thursday night of April 26, 1984.

A series of other twisters tore into the Pawnee County towns of Jennings and Terlton, and went on to rake parts of Skiatook and Broken Arrow.

Elsewhere, the savage spring storm brought heavy rain, along with hail the size of golf balls and larger, causing even more damage, including in Tulsa. Power outages struck many communities.

In the Terlton-Jennings area, the tornadoes killed three people, injured hundreds and destroyed dozens of homes and businesses.

More was to follow.

Mannford and Prue hit next

A few days later, during Sunday

morning church services, another twister blasted through Mannford in Creek County and went on to hit the town of Prue on the north side of Keystone Lake.

One person was killed in Mannford, and scores were injured in both Mannford and Prue. Prue lost its entire business district and one-third of its 180 homes.

In Mannford, two churches were destroyed and two others were damaged. The city's elementary school was flattened, and 43 homes were either destroyed or heavily damaged.

The April 26 and 29 tornadoes caused an estimated $35.7 million in damage and affected nearly 800 families.

Meanwhile, residents in Mannford and Prue quickly set about rebuilding, and today both towns look much as they did before the tornado struck.

However, both communities were fairly new in 1984, having had to move their original townsites in the early 1960s to make way for the construction of Keystone Lake. The Keystone Dam was completed in 1964.

Morris has rebuilt, too, but it bears little resemblance to its former self.

Some of its older homes were spared by the tornado, but a row of older, two-story brick office buildings, built in Morris' heyday, is now nothing more than a row of one-story buildings, with the brick painted over to hide the twister's scars.

Rebuilding Morris

Beyond that, everything else in Morris — its businesses, churches, schools and most of its homes — is less than 25 years old.

In the aftermath of the tornado, local officials vowed to rebuild the community, even though the task was daunting.

There wasn't much left of Morris. Virtually the entire town looked like a giant landfill of construction debris.

Mayor Lou Ann Robinson is proud of the way her hometown has risen from the proverbial ashes.

During a walking tour of Morris in March, Robinson, accompanied by a few other residents with memories of that long-ago night, pointed to all the rebuilding accomplishments.

All the while, though, those in this little group kept discussing the visions still lingering in their minds of that dreaded night. That tornado has now become part of Morris' heritage.

Just about everyone in town beyond the age of 30 has vivid memories of that night, memories of brushes with death and injury, and memories of those not as fortunate.

Robinson was just a teenager back then, living with her parents and sister.

Heaving house

She remembers how her house heaved during the storm, and the sounds of shattering glass.

She, too, remembers how the twister lifted the homes of their neighbors off their foundations.

After the tornado hit, Robinson, her mother and her sister took refuge at a relative's home in Okmulgee, seven miles away, while her father, a retired firefighter, spent the next several days helping disaster victims clean up.

At the rebuilt Reynolds hardware and appliance store, where locals come to sit and discuss the day's events, a rotating display case is filled with photos of the disaster.

And store owner Dave Reynolds is never far away with his scrapbook, thick with newspaper clippings and photos of the damage and cleanup efforts.

Reynolds offers high praise for the way residents rolled up their sleeves and went about rebuilding.

With his business in shambles after the tornado, Reynolds said he gave away items for free — batteries, flashlights, hammers, nails, saws — anything to help residents in their cleanup efforts.

Reynolds said it took about five years for the town to rebuild completely.

Looking back, the 69-year-old Reynolds said he never doubted the resolve of his fellow residents, though he's unsure whether he could do it again.

"We were all a lot younger then," he added.

Manny Gamallo 581-8386
manny.gamallo@tulsaworld.com By MANNY GAMALLO World Staff Writer

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Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

Some reader comments for this story were copied from "COMING SUNDAY: Deadly tornadoes hit 25 years ago," which was published on 4/25/2009.

	Report Comment CPT Ron, Lawton (4/25/2009 4:29:35 PM) A reminder that building codes should be revised to require tornado shelters at all homes.
	Report Comment NOT JADED, Tulsa (4/25/2009 5:44:59 PM) I remeber this one when I was a kid. I slept through the tornado and woke up in the hallway. The front houses in our neighborhood were either damaged or gone. Our house was completely fine.
	Report Comment ttr1975, Sand Springs (4/25/2009 9:16:03 PM) Was this the same storm that damaged South Intermediate High School in Broken Arrow? Been too many years!
	Report Comment CPT Ron, Lawton (4/25/2009 10:53:36 PM) McPigg, It is recommended that your storm shelter be away from the house. There are two reasons for this: (1) The house may fall on the shelter door and trap you in the shelter. (2) If the house catches fire, the fire will suck all the oxygen from your shelter and you will sufficate.
	Report Comment missy..........m., countryside (4/26/2009 1:07:58 AM) How sad....we needed reminded of this when the wind is whipping down the plain.Hard to keep our tail gates up.

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