Parts Of Blanchard Damaged By Tornado, Flooding

Saturday's tornado touched down in Blanchard, hitting residents on North MacArthur hard. A brand new home was just built to house homeless women with unplanned pregnancies, called Grace Home.&nbsp;But Mother Nature mangled this place, before any moms-to-be could even move in.<br/><br/>

Sunday, May 24th 2015, 5:36 pm

By: News 9


Saturday's tornado touched down in Blanchard, hitting residents on North MacArthur hard. A brand new home was just built to house homeless women with unplanned pregnancies, called Grace Home.

But Mother Nature mangled this place, before any moms-to-be could even move in.

The tornado tore through the roof and then the relentless rain wreaked havoc on the inside.

“Just the rain continuing to pound on the ceiling started dropping the sheetrock off the joists,” Executive Director Jeff Cockroft said.

Volunteers spent Sunday trying to save what they could. Some were there when it happened and they said they just barely made it into the safe room.

“Dinner was on the table,” Vicki Bates, a house mother at Grace Home told News 9.

“Halfway through the prayer we hear this loud, loud sound. And Susan looks up and she sees debris flying through the air, through the window and she says, ‘Run!' And so we all stopped praying and we run to the shelter and just as we're closing the door, the tornado hits.”

The storm didn't stop there. It made its way down the road ruining one family's three barns.

5/23/2015 Related Story: Several Structures Damaged In Blanchard

And it didn't let up before hitting another homeowner's garage.

“We put our car in here so it'd be safe from hail. But it didn't help,” Frances Truax chuckled.

On top of all this -- trees were snapped in half and scattered. Roads nearby were collapsed and closed.

But these Oklahomans said they're thankful they didn't lose everything, most of it can be repaired, and no one was hurt.

Again, no mothers were living in Grace Home yet, because it had just opened. It was covered by insurance. However, if you would like to donate and help them rebuild, donations can be directed to the facility via First National Bank and Trust in Blanchard or visit their web site.

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News 9 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

May 24th, 2015

March 22nd, 2024

March 14th, 2024

February 9th, 2024

Top Headlines

March 29th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024