Mark Schlachtenhaufen
The Edmond Sun
EDMOND — While some area residents remained in their shelters, Eric Harlow and Kelly Lewis raced toward the tornado as it twirled through west and northwest Edmond on Feb. 10, 2009.
One year later, the first responders and others remember what they saw and experienced that day. The 10-minute event hopped and skipped through portions of Edmond, leaving some areas relatively unscathed while other areas were hard hit such as the Oak Tree housing addition, the Oak Tree National golf course and a Logan County trailer park. In total more than 200 homes and buildings were damaged in the city, eight with major damage, and six homes in Oak Tree were destroyed.
The Deer Creek firefighters turned north on Santa Fe Avenue and saw several power flashes to the north and northeast. They passed a heavily damaged home at the corner of Santa Fe and Big Cedar Drive.
“We were constantly swerving around downed power lines and uprooted or toppled trees across the road,” said Harlow, assistant fire chief for the Deer Creek Fire Department.
They traveled north on Santa Fe to Coffee Creek and went back east to Kelly Avenue, seeing damage along the entire route.
“I remember topping the hill past Cross Timbers Elementary and seeing the damage all across the east part of Oak Tree,” Harlow said.
The fence was scattered, large trees along Kelly were broken or uprooted and Harlow could see exposed parts of damaged homes all along the tornado’s path.
Edmond Police played a major role in the response.
Glynda Chu, Edmond Police spokeswoman, said she recalls driving from house to house, talking with residents and seeing the surrounding destruction.
“I went into one house that had huge shards of glass sticking in the walls, the refrigerator door had been blown away and all the walls around a bedroom were missing,” Chu said. “It looked as if the bed was sitting in the yard. Other parts of the home had not been touched; wine glasses were still sitting perfectly on a shelf and the sofa had not moved.”
In some neighborhoods a house would be destroyed, while the one next door had little or no damage at all, Chu said.
Edmond Police Officer James Hamm said he and other Edmond officers mainly spent the minutes and hours after the tornado going door to door, checking on residents, then directing traffic.
With residents rushing home to check and many others driving into the area to see the damage, traffic was a major issue, Hamm said.
Prior to being a police officer, Hamm was a photojournalist for a metro television station, and a storm chaser for several years.
“I knew the situation could be bad,” Hamm recalled. “I know that just because one part of a neighborhood appears to be OK does not mean another part of the addition was not wiped out.”
Edmond Police methodically checked entire additions in north Edmond to ensure that all of the residents were all right, Hamm said. At times, when a second storm passed over the area, hail stones were falling on officers, he said.
Mike Magee, Edmond’s emergency management coordinator, said the city had good warnings from the National Weather Service that severe weather would be a factor that day, and good coverage from local TV stations.
“We reinforced the warnings to our co-workers with an ‘all-users’ e-mail well ahead of the storm,” Magee said.
Magee’s first confirmation that the city was dealing with a tornado and not just a severe thunderstorm was a text message from his son, an Oklahoma City firefighter. He was on duty and had seen the tornado in northwest Oklahoma City.
“He texted me as he was riding in the fire engine, responding to the ‘hit’ area,” Magee said. “He knew it was headed our way.”
Community spirit
Harlow said he recalls pulling up to a man with a bewildered expression on his face, standing on the side of the road about a quarter-mile north of Waterloo Road.
“I remember asking him if he was OK,” Harlow said. “He told me he was, but he’d been thrown through the wall of his home, which was pretty much destroyed on the hill behind him. I asked him if he needed any help and he said no.”
Harlow returned to the Broadway-Waterloo intersection and asked an Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper to pick up the man and get him out of the danger area. There was a distinct odor of natural gas coming from a toppled gas meter, and there were downed power lines too, Harlow said.
A second storm dropped substantial hail on the first responders and the rest of the day there were many calls for assistance, even a small house fire due to a lightning strike, Harlow said.
“All in all, considering the widespread damage, everything went somewhat smooth and everyone worked together for a common goal — making sure all people were safe and hazards mitigated,” he said.
Chu said outside of the damage, what she remembers most about that day was the wonderful spirit of Edmond residents.
“Everyone was just so thankful to be alive and immediately tried to do all they could to start helping one another,” Chu said. “That caring spirit and attitude is something I will appreciate and carry with me always.”
As the storm approached, Magee was on the phone with Edmond Public Schools from the city’s Emergency Operations Center. A coordinated decision was made to “lock down” the schools. The schools, administrators, teachers and students reacted and performed in an outstanding manner, Magee said.
Additionally, tornado sirens worked as advertised, and they were sounded several times.
Magee said there was a lot of property damage, but no loss of life and injuries were minimal. He said the response was well coordinated, damage assessment was rapid and thorough and the federal government’s response was quick.
marks@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 102
