The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 4

THE OKLAHOMAN NEWS0K.COM 4A THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2009 TORNADOES LONE GROVE TORNADO DEATH TOLL CLIMBS For survivors, shock and disbelief Margie Hughes, left, gets a hug from her sister Neda Wilson as they look at Margie's destroyed home Wednesday in Lone Grove. PHOTO BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN Neda Wilson reacts as she looks at her sister's destroyed home Wednesday in Lone Grove. PHOTO BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN Ardmore hospital emergency room. Ashley, Kaleb, and Colton were all admitted. Colton, who suffered a fracture in his leg, was later taken to Children's Hos -pital in Oklahoma City for surgery.

"It was just awful," Ashley Hickman said. "We were just very, very lucky to survive." Jerry Roskan was also feeling fortunate. He and his wife, Margie Hughes, left their trailer home to seek shelter with friends in a brick home. Roskan drove to his house two hours after the tornado struck. "There was nothing there," he said.

"Across the street I saw them putting a man in a body bag. I just praise the Lord it wasn't us, and I hope the Lord can comfort those families." The thankful Ashley Hickman wept as she watched video of the tornado's devastation on her hospital room television. Hickman, her two children, Kaleb Smith, and Colton Smith, 1, and her father, Bill Hickman, narrowly escaped in a trailer home that was demolished by the twister. "The news said we had 15 minutes so I went to get a mattress," said Ashley Hickman, 20. "That's when I heard it hit." Hickman dived on top of her children.

"I was sitting on Col-ton's legs, but I lost Kaleb," Hickman wept. "I lost Kaleb. But when everything stopped he was laying right next to me. Kaleb was knocked out for several minutes." Injured, Bill Hickman drove his loved ones to the BY RON JACKSON Staff Writer rjacksonc3opubco.com LONE GROVE Death shadowed every soul Wednesday in the Lone Grove area, where eight people died when a tornado dropped out of the rain and blackness with little warning. State authorities on Wednesday confirmed eight dead.

Carter County Sheriff Ken Grace said later a ninth man died Wednesday at a Dallas hospital. A spokeswoman with the state Department of Emer -gency Management said she could not confirm the sheriff's report. Donnie Holybee, 36, sat numb in his hospital bed at Mercy Memorial Health Center in Ardmore. His The family's trailer home was blown away by the tornado. Earnest Nevill was thrown into a field.

"I remember seeing Tim walk down the hallway, and then it hit," Mary Nevill said tearfully. "That was the last I saw him. I kept yelling his name but he wouldn't answer." News of the deaths shook everyone. "Everybody is in shock," said Melinda Dudley, Craddock Funeral Home's director. "We're all still in disbelief but we have had to put our own personal feelings aside for the families.

"This is very different than what we normally see. We're dealing with people who are in traumatic shock." eyes were blurry from a window air -conditioner that slammed into the back of his head, but his recollection was haunt -ingly clear. Holybee recounted how he huddled over his 65-year-old aunt, Patricia Mapp, as the storm approached. Bed-ridden with cancer and emphysema, Mapp was unable to be moved from her bed. "Aunty said there was nowhere to go," Holybee said.

"So I just hugged her. I was scared. I told her, 'I love you Aunt She said, 'I love you, I asked her if there were any last words she wanted to say. That's when the tornado hit." Mapp also survived the harrowing experience with only cuts and bruises. The victims Eight victims were taken to Craddock Funeral Home in nearby Ardmore on Wednesday because it was the only funeral home big enough to house all the bodies.

Medical examiners worked throughout the day notifying the next of kin, and positively identifying the dead all of whom died from "blunt force trauma to the head," according to state medical examiner spokeswoman Cherokee Ballard. No names of victims will be released until the death certificates are signed, Ballard said. The Oklahoman learned the name of one victim, Tim Nevill, 36, of Lone Grove, from his parents, Earnest and Mary Nevill. Storm leaves scientists in awe Travelers is here to help. If you experience a loss, you can reach us by phone, fax or online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Travelers will process your claim and help you face the challenges that lie ahead. rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale. This was a horrible, deadly tornado. A man was killed in the home that Foster and Smith said "is the worst we've seen." They will remember the loss of lives. They will also remember other things they don't normally see.

One was the disappearance of roofs and not just one or two. "We couldn't find even a shingle," he said of the first home. "I can't find any thing with this one and we had two others over there that were missing roofs." They will also not forget the way the day ended. Leaving Lone Grove, they went to Majestic Hills, a community, northeast of Lone Grove and just north of Ardmore. There was substantial damage, including to the two -story home of the Pack family.

It was totally destroyed by what Foster and Smith rated as EF-4 damage with winds of 180 to 185 mph. TONIGHT ETA 13 Cox Channel 14 HOME AUTO CLAIMS 800.CLAIM33 (252.4633) BUSINESS CLAIMS 800.238.6225 ONLINE travelers.com Victor Borge 100 Years of Music Laughter A collection of Victor Borge's funniest and most memorable skits and many of his classic comedy bits. 7 PM BY BRYAN PAINTER Staff Writer bpainterc3opubco.com LONE GROVE "The roofs seem to have disinte -grated." Mike Foster made the statement Wednesday and Rick Smith agreed as the meteorologists with National Weather Service's Norman Forecast Office surveyed what they classified as an EF-4 tornado at Lone Grove. At 11:45 a.m. Foster, meteorologist in charge, lowered his camera and said, "Here's a good question, where's the roof?" He was looking at a home on the north edge of the community.

The engineering appeared good, but still no evidence of a top anywhere. He asked Ed Reed, emergency management director for Carter County, who could only reply, "I asked myself that same question a few minutes ago." Foster and Smith, the warning coordination meteorologist, left that home leaning toward an EF-3 rating with wind speeds of 140 miles per hour. However, about four hours later they arrived at a home on the south side of the community that had no inside standing walls and only part of one outside wall. After a few minutes, they made the decision -an EF-4 with winds of 165 -170 miles per hour. How did they reach that? They determine an estimated wind speed based on the kind of damage to a particular type of structure.

Again, they're looking at the engineering. Then each time they would return to the van and look through a manual titled "Twenty-Eight Damage Indicators With Photos." That helps them arrive at a "Degree of Damage." That in turn leads them to an estimated wind speed and that directs them to a Brain Fitness Program Peter Coyote narrates this innovative and life-altering program of a scientifically based set of brain exercises J.1M to help get your brain in better shape! 8:30 PM ETA DIGITAL 13.2 Cox Digital Channel 112 Frank Sinatra A Man and His Music 5 PM Suze Orman: Women Money- 6:30 PM Zappa Plays Zappa 8:30 PM TRAVELERS Insurance. In-synch? 2009 The Travelers Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Travelers Indemnity Company and its property casualty affiliates.

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