Technology Center damaged by fire, unconfirmed tornado

Storm damage reports throughout the eastern portion of Stephens County appeared to be minimal, though the early morning tornado warning alerts around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday jolted some residents awake and out of their beds. Including the county commissioners. Kreg Murphree, District 1, which covers the north area of the county – Marlow, Bray and Central High region – said early Tuesday that it appears his district was fortunate.

Dennis Loafman, superintendent of the Red River Technology Center in Duncan, spent all of Tuesday dealing with fire and tornado damage to campus buildings. When the school finally had electricity on, video footage revealed what looked like a tornado dropping onto the rooftop and trees, he said. National Weather Service hasn’t confirmed if it was a tornado.

“Around 4:30 a.m. a small tornado knocked over a light pole and a tree. It damaged some shop doors and blew the roof off that building. I think it damaged some signs on the Bypass. When it ripped off the roof, it broke a gas line and 30 minutes later, a fire … I have to credit the Duncan Fire Department for getting here so quickly and putting that fire out,” Loafman said. Even though all the structural damage is still being assessed, he said the tornado put quite a few holes in the shop building and the health building. The school closed Tuesday and Wednesday, while work to abate the smoke-filled rooms continues. CMS Willowbrook out of Chickasha had a construction manager on campus for a remodel project. They are handling the clean-up efforts.

“It’s a day-by-day operation and hopefully we can get open again soon,” Loafman said, indicating that it will be a large insurance claim. “We held an emergency board meeting and will be able to have Oklahoma competitive bidding.” Finding the correct parts for repairs may be a bigger challenge.

High winds went over Murphree’s place east of Marlow, and he was glad to still have his roof. He spent the morning cleaning his yard, collecting feed buckets and other items the storm tossed around. Murphree said there wasn’t much rain in his area either.

It was a different story for District 3’s Russell Morgan, who had to gather a few county workers, some backhoes and a truck before heading 35 miles east of the county barn toward Loco. Morgan said he received a call about 5:15 a.m. from county dispatch about a roof and an ice box (refrigerator) in the middle of Pinto Rd, northeast of Loco.
“When we got out there, it wasn’t like that. The ice box was out in the middle of the pasture and it looked like a barn blew away. There was sheet metal scattered about. You could see in the tops of trees they were twisted. I’m assuming it was a twister,” Morgan said. “There was a tremendous amount of rain, probably 3-4 inches in the eastern part of the county. Water was everywhere, but in town, it was maybe only about six-tenths of an inch.”

Morgan said it was too wet to get into the bar ditches to clean up the debris. They hauled away a load of tree limbs in the dump truck.

Todd Churchman, District 2, said there wasn’t much rain in his area, and he mentioned the fire at the Red River Technology Center.

Morgan said Emergency Management Director Gary Curtis shot drone footage that included the tech center, and other places.

A second tornado warning was issued by the City of Marlow around 5:30 a.m. for a storm moving northeast with Velma, Foster, Tatums, Loco, Ratliff City and Pernell in its path.

In Wayne, OK, an F2 tornado touched down, confirmed by the National Weather Service in Norman.

Morgan said Tuesday was probably the last warm day for the area, and temperatures will drop steadily over the next few days. He believes temperatures will be in the 30s in the week leading into Christmas.