Lake Thunderbird Reopens After Damaged By Tornado

By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- Nearly two weeks after a tornado ripped through Lake Thunderbird some parts of the park that were heavily damaged are back open.

There's still a lot of work to be done at the Lake. Just after 1 p.m. park workers started taking down the barricades that had kept campers out of the Indian Point area of Lake Thunderbird for a week and a half.

The park was open, but the marks of the May 10 tornado won't soon disappear, and the cost of the cleanup could run as high as $7 million.

"I'd seen some of the damage, we were out of town at the time, some of the damage on the Internet, and to actually view it, it's mind-boggling," boat owner Shirley Goerlach said.

It will be another two months before the Little River Marina is cleaned up, and almost a year before it will be rebuilt.

Lake Thunderbird had never been closed before. But, it had never experienced anything like the May 10 tornado either.

"This is the worst," said Park Manager Terry Gibson. "I've never heard of anything being as bad as this, ever."

But park officials have been working hard to clean up the park for a reopening. They have been helped by some 50 volunteers. One of them is Larry Frei, a retired electrician. He's put in several days cleaning the shoreline.

"Getting the big stuff out, getting the oil stuff, the oil cans, everything I can, that I can reach," Frei said.

The cleanup remains a work in progress. But park officials believe things are safe enough and clean enough to allow the public back in.

"People are anxious to get out," said Gibson. "It is the beginning of the summer and the end of the spring and this is when people start recreating."

No sooner were the barricades down than the first campers started driving in. Spring storms won't stop summer fun for long.

Park officials say only five of the Lake's boat ramps are open, and the Little Axe campground remains closed.