Comanche County Emergency Management and local fire/police crews continue to assess damage Wednesday morning.

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1 Comanche County Emergency Management and local fire/police crews continue to assess damage Wednesday morning. Constitution Article An unexpected burst of severe weather and violent wind gusts blew through Southwest Oklahoma Tuesday evening, leaving debris to litter the countryside in place of spring flowers and electricity in short supply into the night for many. 1 / 5

2 Comanche County Emergency Management received a confirmation of 89 mph winds that blew near Elgin at 7:30 p.m., said Chris Killmer, information officer. That was some really strong wind, said Ed Becerra. Becerra and his wife, Sue, were examining the effects of the quick striking storm on their property at U.S. 62, just about ¼-mile south of the Richards Spur railroad crossing. Their small, orange trailer sits crashed at its final resting spot approximately 50 yards from where it began. A swath of trees near the roadway evidenced the wind s path by a naked gap that appeared like missing teeth in a child s smile. Across the roadway, the remnants of a small, steel tool shed lay crumpled in a broken heap. Farther down the road, a power pole impaled the soggy ground and sagged the still-attached wires overhead. A replica 1947 wooden outhouse that now serves as the Becerras paint shed survived the storm but less than 10 feet away, the family grill was tossed to the ground. The home suffered wind damage along its western side as the awning had crumpled at places and windows were broken out from flying debris. The outhouse maintained pretty good, Becerra said. John DeLuca said that moments before the storm struck, he d received a thunderstorm warning alert via his iphone weather application. DeLuca said he d gone outside and felt the wind s strength, which he estimated to be near 100 mph, and returned inside to shelter. When he emerged later, he saw some small trailers overturned and began to scan for more damage. When he looked south to the Becerras home, he saw that his large, steel horse trailer had blown between 40 and 50 yards from its parking spot into a row of evergreens. There s going to be a lot of things left to clean up, to do tomorrow, DeLuca said. But it could ve been a lot worse. 2 / 5

3 It s a consensus shared throughout the area. That s the good thing, Killmer said, that no one was injured. Several reports of roofs damaged and small structures collapsed filtered into Comanche County Emergency Management. The Cove Acres, Elgin and Fletcher fire departments were kept busy with reports of damage and lost power, Killmer said. At one time, five power lines were reported down between Tony Creek and Watts Road, leaving approximately 350 homes in that area without power for a short time, Killmer said. In the southern part of the county, the town of Geronimo was left without power for a short time before it was restored. Cotton Electric Cooperative customers were hit hard by the storm. High winds caused some structure damage for the cooperative, as well as for Western Farmers Electric Cooperative (WFEC), said Karen Kaley, Cotton Electric information specialist. Two transmission structures 3 / 5

4 belonging to WFEC were damaged, affecting power in the Indiahoma and Grandfield area, she said. Some Cotton Electric poles went down in that area and in the Waurika Lake area as well. According to Cotton Electric s outage map, available through a link on its website, outages affecting more than 2,300 members were reported at 9 p.m. Crews have been dispatched to the affected areas and repairs are under way, Kaley said. About 1,000 AEP/PSO customers were reported without power in the Chickasha area but were expected to be back online by midnight, according to a company spokesman. Several of the company s power poles were reported damaged near the Frederick and Davidson area. Damage hit Central Oklahoma as the storm moved northeast, according to the Associated Press. The National Weather Service reported wind gusts between 65 mph and 70 mph as it moved through Norman and Cleveland County early Tuesday night. Television footage showed snapped power poles and power lines down across streets and on Interstate 35, causing traffic to slow in the area. There also were reports of trees knocked down and flooded roads in the city. Oklahoma Gas and Electric reported on its website that 23,918 customers were without electricity in Norman. A severe thunderstorm watch remained in effect until early Wednesday for 21 counties in Oklahoma. 4 / 5

5 At 10 p.m., Killmer said that approximately 800 homes in the northeastern part of the county were without power but it was expected to be restored by midnight. Damage estimates would have to be assessed once sunlight returned, he said. Medicine Park Water Treatment Plant didn t suffer damage but was on backup generator power Tuesday evening, according to Jerry Ihler, Lawton s public works director. The plant provides Lawton with its drinking water. Killmer said that the storm struck quickly but that the county s storm warning system was still effective. The storm struck in the mostly typical of Oklahoma fashions, he said. It blew up really quick and conditions were just right, Killmer said. 5 / 5