Violent tornado tears through Oklahoma town, damaging 40 homes but sparing lives
Raeann Hunt scrambled to her cellar as a tornado bore down on her Oklahoma community.
“It is headed right for us,” she recalled thinking, as she peeked outside, unable to contain her curiosity. Huddled inside the dark 8-by-8 foot concrete shelter with her husband, brother-in-law and a neighbor, she heard roaring, metal slapping on the door and glass breaking. Afterward, they emerged unscathed, but found the windows smashed out of the one-story brick home in Enid and the roof badly damaged.
The scene was repeated Thursday night across the city of about 50,000 people about 85 miles north of Oklahoma City as the EF-4 tornado hit. It was on the ground for 9 miles, packing winds of 170 to 175 mph and measuring 500 yards across at its widest, said Rick Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Basements aren’t common in Oklahoma because of the red clay soil and elevated water tables that make it difficult and expensive to install them, but many homes — like Hunt’s — have storm cellars or safe rooms with reinforced concrete walls where people can take cover.
People here also know to flip on the TV and set up weather alerts on their phones — particularly in the springtime, when the risk of violent twisters is highest. The tornado knocked down utility poles and left power lines wrapped with huge chunks of debris. A home had part of its metal roof torn off and trees were left stripped of bark and limbs. At another home, a section of one wall had peeled away to reveal the interior of the home with some furniture still in place. Police and fire departments and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol conducted multiple home searches, rescuing some trapped residents, Enid Mayor David Mason said Friday.
One striking image from Thursday’s storms shows a tornado in the Enid area with dark clouds of debris extending in V-shape on either side. That is typical of higher-end tornadoes, according to Mark Fox, the meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service’s office in Norman.
It has such a violent motion as winds pick up dirt, debris and things like parts of people’s houses. Neighboring counties also reported some flooded roads and barn damage. The National Weather Service was sending two crews out Friday to do damage surveys related to six potential tornadoes in the Enid and Braman areas of north-central Oklahoma, meteorologist John Pike said.
Source:https://www.wect.com/2026/04/24/tornado-barrels-through-oklahoma-damaging-homes-shutting-down-roads/
