APRIL 3, 2015
AFTON, OKLAHOMA
"It was one of the craziest things, I'd never really
respected tornadoes until this happened. And I sure do now," said Dillon
Wheatley, Afton resident.
After a tornado warning was issued for the city at 10:03
last night, the Wheatley family took cover. The National Weather Service
Confirmed the tornado struck on the Ottawa County line between East 240 Road
and 520 Road.
"It was on the ground, I'd say a couple of miles over
there. It did quite a little bit of damage," said Joe Dan Morgan, Ottawa
County Emergency Management Director.
The Ottawa County emergency management director says the
roof was blown off of at least three houses, and five total structures were
damaged.
"Everybody was safe over here because they had prior
notice," said Morgan.
Wheatley says their barns, auto-shop, and a stock trailer
were damaged, but their house is still standing.
"It's pretty obvious, you know, everything around us is
demolished and damaged, except for the house. And you know, it's just, you
know, an act of God. His guardian angels," said Tracy Wheatley, Afton
resident.
"I was just glad that nobody got hurt, because it was
just material stuff. I mean, it's nothing that can't be replaced," said
Dillon Wheatley.
The National Weather Service is in town surveying the damage
to determine the strength of the storm. Those results have not been released at
this time.
That same storm system is responsible for whipping winds
that flipped two semi trucks on Interstate 44 between Vinita and Afton last
night. Storm chasers reported sheet metal blowing in the median. No one was
injured when the trucks flipped. It took crews several hours to clear the
interstate.