Tulsa World: EF-1 rating for Langston tornado

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EF-1 rating for Langston tornado

Former Langston University President Ernest L. Holloway surveys damage in a neighborhood along State Highway 33 on Sunday near in Langston. A tornado touched down in the area on Saturday evening. SARAH PHIPPS/The Oklahoman

By AARON CRESPO, TATYANA C. JOHNSON AND MICHAEL KIMBALL, NewsOK.com
Published: 4/19/2009 12:33 PM
Last Modified: 4/19/2009 7:06 PM

LANGSTON — James Simpson stepped out of his living room and walked to his garage Saturday evening. While there, he heard hail ping on the garage door. When he went to his front door to see what was going on, the door was ripped from his hand.

Simpson, a retired Langston chemistry professor, and his wife quickly took cover in a hall as a tornado ripped through a four-home subdivision. A minute later it was quiet again.

“It was over before I knew what was going on,” Simpson said. “All we felt was a cold wind.”

Simpson found his sunroom destroyed and a riding lawnmower on the bed of his room. The lawnmower had been in a storage shed, which was nowhere in sight. That wasn’t the worst of the damage to homes in the subdivision.

“We had no idea the amount of devastation to these other houses,” Simpson said.

The storm destroyed two homes in the subdivision belonging to former Langston University President Ernest L. Holloway and Langston track coach James Hilliard. Two other homes were damaged. No one was at home when the storm hit those four houses.

The National Weather Service investigated on Sunday and gave the tornado a preliminary rating of EF-1. The tornado generated wind speeds of 90 to 100 mph, snapping trees and utility poles in the area, according to the weather service. The damage path was about 150 yards wide and less than half a mile long.

Holloway had just moved back into his home after three years of living in Oklahoma City. Much of the roof was torn off and several interior rooms

were heavily damaged or destroyed. A neighbor’s trailer was thrown through the brick facade and into a bedroom. Yet Holloway could still laugh as he surveyed the damage to his home.

“We all know there was nothing we could do,” he said. “We’re so thankful that, after all this damage, no one was hurt.”

Holloway said he intends to rebuild in the same neighborhood.

“This is my home. I built it 40 years ago... One thing I’ve decided. Within whatever I rebuild will be a safe room.”

The tornado didn’t last long.

“I talked to the weather guy today and he said that it showed up on their radar for a split second and then went away, so they didn’t think anything about it,” said resident Leander Johnson, a computer programmer at Tinker Air Force Base.

Johnson said his home didn’t suffer as much damage as the other homes and shares the thankfulness that no one was injured.

“There’s no reason to be upset. Stress doesn’t do anything but cause cancer and other diseases. It’s best to be lifted up,” Johnson said. “Ultimately, I just thank God that everyone is safe.”

Hilliard and Alan Quinn, both track coaches at the university, were returning from a track meet in Texas when the storm destroyed their home.

“The chief of police called me and told me that a tornado had hit my house and Dr. Holloway’s house,” Hilliard said as he looked over the damage to his home.

The tornado destroyed most of the second floor of the home and damaged several walls. A large doghouse in the back, which had housed several dogs, was also gone but none of the dogs were injured.

“The community has been very helpful with offering food, places for us to stay, and just kindness,” Quinn said.

The American Red Cross of Central Oklahoma is helping the affected residents get help in the immediate aftermath of the tornado, said David Ball, Logan County Emergency Manager.

Like Holloway, Hilliard said he intends to rebuild in the same neighborhood.

“I love my neighborhood. I’ve been here since '95. It’s nice and quiet, we’re a real close family here and we look out for each other. So, yeah, rebuild is definite right here,” Hilliard said. By AARON CRESPO, TATYANA C. JOHNSON AND MICHAEL KIMBALL, NewsOK.com

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CPT Ron, Lawton (4/19/2009 7:25:37 PM)

"One thing I’ve decided. Within whatever I rebuild will be a safe room"

Building codes should be revised to require a safe room or storm shelter at every house.

Everyone cannot wait for a tornado to convince them, so government should require it for public safety to save lives.

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