6 tornadoes touch down

As many as six tornadoes raked across Oklahoma over the weekend, with most of them occurring in Garfield County.

Wednesday, April 29th 2009, 12:31 pm

By: News 9

ENID, Okla. (AP) -- As many as six tornadoes raked across Oklahoma over the weekend, with most of them occurring in Garfield County, according to the National Weather Service.
   Investigators determined that two confirmed tornadoes that struck the county were EF-2s, which can generate winds of up to 135 mph, said meteorologist Alex Lamers.
   One of the storms touched down in north Enid and another hit southeast of Kremlin, according to a report compiled by Rick Smith, warning coordination meteorologist.
   A third Garfield County tornado that struck northwest of Kremlin and near Hillsdale, was rated EF-1, Lamers said. EF-1 tornadoes generate winds of up to 110 mph.
   Rating on the county's fourth tornado, which hit east of Hillsdale, has not been completed.
   Tornadoes also were reported in Roger Mills and Ellis counties on Sunday, but investigators haven't assigned ratings to them yet, Lamers said.
   Scientists were still trying to evaluate how long the tornadoes stayed on the ground.
   There were serious injuries reported with the storms, but extensive property damage was reported in Garfield County.
   Insurance adjusters from Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma got a look at damage at the Chisholm Trail Expo Center in Enid on Monday. No estimates have been developed yet, but county commissioner Steve Hobson said ACCO representatives told him they had set aside $500,000 in the insurance fund for repairs to the building.
   Meanwhile, more than $250,000 in damage was done to Northern Oklahoma Shooting Center Saturday night, but owner C.W. Quier said he can fix it.
   "Three walls were blown in, and the vacuum sucked in the walls and took the roof off, but left a Smokie hat laying on a table," Quier said.
   The tornado disrupted the 34th annual Enid Home Show. Promoter Janelle Martin said vendors had told her they were seeing record traffic before the storm.
   "We were blessed it didn't happen three hours earlier," Martin said. "It was a successful show."