Cleanup Begins In Guthrie After Tuesday's Storms

Cleanup in Guthrie continues following Tuesday's loud and damaging storms.

Most of the reported damage was minor, but not everyone was lucky.

Dark ominous clouds filled the sky late Tuesday afternoon as storms moved into the metro.

The sudden downpour coupled with lightning, thunder and high winds muffled the sound as one building at Environmental Management Inc. was flattened.

“Actually, I didn't even hear that. I looked out and i saw metal flying away,” said Terry Bobo with Environmental Management Inc. 

Winds also pushed one of the company's parked semi-trucks several feet and split tree limbs like toothpicks.

“You think of buildings as being blown up and out and the building was actually shoved down. It pulled 18 inch long anchor bolts out of the concrete,” Bobo said.

While crews worked to pick up sheet metal thrown to nearby fields roofers worked to quickly cover the Cooks' roof ripped off by straight line winds.

“Everything that was on the second floor is now on the first floor and the walls are falling in and it's just a nightmare in there,” homeowner John Cook said.

Friends, family and strangers helped the family until midnight to salvage anything they could find.

“Some of the people that were here knew exactly what to get because they started pulling pictures and they started going through drawers,” Cook said.

Their home has survived tornadoes, but it couldn't withstand Tuesday's nearly 80 mph winds.

“We thought we've been pretty lucky, we're in a safe spot and then we didn't even think it was a really bad storm,” Cook said.

The Cooks are working with their insurance company to rebuild their home.

Environmental Management estimates its damage to about $50,000.