Wednesday, May 8th 2024, 4:58 pm
Search and rescue teams are in Barnsdall Wednesday, searching for the one person still unaccounted for after Monday's tornado.
An 81-year-old man hasn't been seen since his house was destroyed in the storms.
Oklahoma Task Force One says they had crews in boats on Bird Creek, searching for Wayne Hogue.
Hogue's son said that he spoke with his father right before he took shelter. He says that he called his father after the storm passed, but never heard back.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said that K9s are being used to search the area near Hogue's home.
As of Wednesday, after damage assessments, it was discovered that the EF-4 tornado wiped out 60 homes.
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“You just heard a bunch of loud noise and stuff was banging around, and it sounded like a freight train going through town,” said Barnsdall resident Brianna Halford.
Jim Gardner and Bob Mills SkyNews 9 got a Birdseye view Tuesday morning of the utter devastation.
On the ground, a warzone. “We moved over to the laundry mat took shelter came outside and everything was torn down,” said Barnsdall resident Billy Wells.
“It’s really devastating for this town,” said Brianna Halford.
“Oklahoma's been hit pretty hard in the last week or so,” said Stitt.
Barndall resident Arlyn Hendricks spent Tuesday afternoon cleaning up. “The walls are still standing,” said Hendricks.
He said he and his wife were grateful to be alive,
“Of course, the garage here is gone, it’s flattened, but it’s just stuff,” said Hendricks.
Not everyone was so fortunate. Barnsdall city officials confirmed one person died, several people were injured, and one person remains missing,
But despite the amount of loss, residents said they would recover. “It’s going to take a long time to clean this up,” said Halford. “Thank the Lord it wasn't worse. This community is resilient. They're going to rebuild,” said Stitt.
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