The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 2

111 iii 1 111 1 1 iiii iii iiii in 1 111 ii 1 111 1 1 iiiii linn i THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN Cordell: Man tossed 200 feet Page; WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2001 STAFF PHOTO BY STEVE GOOCH STAFF PHOTO BY STEVE GOOCH OKC PHOTOS: Okla homa Christian University, 2501 Memorial, presents a Keith Rinearson and Keith Ball photography exhibit. For more information, call 425-5542. TALE AS OLD AS TIME: Civic Center Music Hall presents Disney's "Beauty and The Beast." For more information, call 297-2264. For more events: NewsOK.com Debris is all that remains of this house on Second after a tornado ripped through Cordell. Authorities said 150 houses were destroyed.

This house on Fleming Street is among the estimated 150 houses destroyed by a tornado that touched down Tuesday in Cordell. SETTING IT STRAIGHT The late Donald Locke, the founder of Locke Supply and the KSBI Television Network, was misidentified in Tuesday's editions of The Oklahoman. looked bigger than that to me." No injuries were reported in the area. Nor were any injuries reported in Roger Mills County, where a tornado was reported touching down in a rural area, destroying trees and causing a car to run off the road, a sheriffs dispatcher said. Tree damage also was reported in Beckham County, where a tornado skipped over structures and touched down.

"We confirmed two on the ground at once, about a mile apart," said Rodney Pope of the sheriffs office. Another tornado was reported near Gotebo. Tornadoes in October are not unusual, said Ken Gallant, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norman. He pointed out that 25 tornadoes swept through Oklahoma on Oct. 4, 1998.

destroyed three miles north of Mountain View in Washita County. Kiowa County and Mountain View emergency workers responded because others in the area were in Cordell, the dispatcher said. The homes were near State Highway 115 in Washita County. Three people were hurt. In northwest Caddo County about three homes were destroyed by storms, said Lennis Miller, a sheriffs deputy.

One of the homes destroyed in Alfalfa was that of Alfalfa Fire Chief Bob Branum, Miller said. A tornado demolished a barn and swiped the roof off the home of a resident in Canute about 5:30 p.m. Resident Connie Vaught said she watched the tornado move northward across town and toward a trailer she had moved just that morning. "It was huge," she said. "It was about a mile away when we saw it, and they estimated an eighth of a mile across, but it said six people were brought in.

Five people were treated and released; the other was transferred to Elk City's hospital with possible neck injuries. The first person the hospital treated survived the storm by taking shelter in a bathtub, Green said. The man's home was destroyed. Businesses badly damaged included the 41 Motel, the APCO service station and a farm implement dealership, the local newspaper editor said. The storm caused minor damage to the school.

The storm hit the southeast quadrant of town, missing downtown, including Cordell's Main Street, famed for its historic preservation. The city of Clinton sent a K-9 officer to Cordell to help locate victims who may be trapped in rubble. Also sent were several city workers, two ambulances and two fire trucks, Clinton police said. Tornadoes flirted with other areas in western Oklahoma and touched down in some. The Kiowa County sheriffs dispatcher said five homes were From Page 1-A and then tried to turn back.

But the tornado sucked me right up and lifted my car in the air. When it dropped me, I got out of the car and tried to make a run for it into a ditch. But I got sucked right up again, and it tossed me into the air. "I don't remember anything at that point." Callery, missing one sneaker, said he was tossed at least 200 feet. In another vehicle behind Callery, friends Colt Young and Jan-son Aleman were tossed into a ditch by the twister.

Both survived to help a woman from her car. Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers were on the scene Tuesday night to keep order. Help centers were established at the Cordell Church of Christ, Fourth and College, and the Cordell Community Center, said Michelann Ooten, spokeswoman for the state Department of Civil Emergency Management. Ripped sections of rooftops, shredded wooden boards and mangled pieces of metal littered streets and yards. Among the buildings destroyed were dozens of homes, the Washita County Fairgrounds auditorium and a closed nursing home.

Large air-conditioning units landed on the front lawn of the Cordell Elementary School, which had windows blown out. Its roof was severely damaged. Across the street, families sifted through rubble that was once their homes. Emergency sirens filled the air shortly after the tornado hit. "It was a thousand-to-one (chance) that we didn't find dead bodies everywhere," said Earlene Chandler, a Cordell nursing home employee and volunteer nurse.

People could be seen streaming out of the southeast part of town, carrying sacks of belongings. All along the damage perimeter were mangled stop signs, toppled fences and debris strewn all over the streets. S.L. Anthony and his wife, Christine, hunkered down in their closet as the tornado blew over their apartment complex. "I held onto her.

I really thought she was going to go," Anthony said. "The walls around us blew off. There was only one section of it standing." Later, Anthony stood staring at a debris-littered field that used to hold a metal building where he played pool with his friends. The building was in pieces throughout the field. Twisted metal was lodged in a tree.

OKLAHOMA PLACES: Southwestern Oklahoma is called Great Plains Country. The area includes 13 counties. The Museum of the Great Plains in Lawton is dedicated to the life of the Plains Indians in the region. The collections include photographs and archival material. A pickup that had been inside the building was flipped over about 50 feet away.

In the block near Anthony's home, tree limbs were snapped off and buildings were crumpled. Police Chief Gary Coburn, who lost his home in the tornado, said he sent five spotters to a hill several miles from town to watch for the twister. Sirens howled just minutes before the tornado came through, Coburn said. "The warning was plenty ample, and that's the reason we didn't have massive injuries," Coburn said. John Goss, 57, lost his home of 52 years.

"I walked inside the house and saw all the cracks," Goss said. "I could look up through my roof and attic and I could see daylight. My garage was totally flattened. "Right now, I have no place to stay. But I'm single.

There are a lot of families down there with no place to stay. I don't know where they're gonna go." Authorities from surrounding towns arrived by nightfall, blocking off the destroyed neighborhoods. Residents left their vehicles to direct traffic before authorities arrived. Mayor Phil Kliewer ordered that no one from the affected areas be allowed in without a pass. "These people have never seen anything like this," said Tammy Eardman, a Hobart nurse who helped set up a medical center at the high school gym.

"This is total devastation." Zonelle Rainbolt, editor of the Cordell Beacon newspaper, said the tornado set down about 5:15 p.m. south of Main Street. Rainbolt said she and the staff of the weekly newspaper went to the editor's house because she had a basement. "I stepped out in our front yard," she said. "You could see lots and lots of debris in the air.

You could hear the roar. It really did sound like a train." Charles Green, administrator at Cordell Memorial Hospital, ONLINE From sporting events to breaking news to feature stories, The Oklahoman's 30 anytime minutes plus unlimited nights weekends FREE Phone FOR $19.99 MONTH GETTING AROUND The inside, southbound lane of the Broadway Extension will close from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at NW 63 while repairs are made on the NW 63 bridge. award-winning staff photographers are on the scene.

But only a frac FREE Charger FREE Adapter Caller ID I safety. Call Waiting jroSai 3 Way Calling 17-1111 N.W. 63rd MAY NEXT TO PAYLESS SHOES NORMAN CELLULAR NE Corner of 24th Main tion of the photos they produce are printed in the newspaper. Go to NewsOK.com to see scores of photo galleries from a variety of events covered by The Oklahoman. Campus Corner Location 566 BUCHANAN 329-9901 METRO I Thursday icel lu la 700 S.

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Authorized Ager HOW TO REACH US General offices 475-33 NEWS TIPS: Metro residents: Call 475-3231 Outside the metro, call (800) 375-6397, Ext. 3225. EXECUTIVE EDITOR Entertainment Centers Black cloud hovered, then dropped down COMMUNITY EDITOR Carla Hinton BUSINESS EDITOR Charles Crumpley the tornado. "We just saw disaster," she said. "It was bad.

There was hardly anything left." Wright said he's heard that as many as 150 homes were destroyed. Fire trucks and emergency vehicles from Burns Flat, Dill City, Elk City and other western Oklahoma communities went to Cordell to offer help. The fairgrounds were also heavily damaged. Yellow police tape surrounded Cordell High School. Crystal Allen, 17, said she's unsure what awaits her and her fellow students when school resumes.

Many of her friends were in Weatherford shopping when the tornado struck. "They didn't even know what happened until they got here," said Allen, who works as a cashier at the Kwik 'n' Eze. While her home was spared, she said she knows many others aren't as fortunate. The store's owner lost his home, just like many other Cordell residents. "There's nothing left of their houses." By Bob Doucette Staff Writer CORDELL Just because the Kwik 'n' Eze was the only store left open after Tuesday's tornado doesn't mean employees didn't suffer the storm's wrath.

Store employees lost homes and possessions while watching the storm's fury destroy much of the southern and eastern sections of town. The store, in the center of town, was undamaged and crowded with people trying to buy a few goods and some gasoline. "My 12-year-old nephew is scared," night shift clerk Michael Wright said. "His friends live next door, and their house was leveled." Wright said he saw the storm's dark cloud hover, then drop to the ground. "It was just a big, black cloud, just swirling.

We saw all the debris in the air. Had it been a block our way, it would have leveled my house." His sister, Karen McNeal, walked through the neighborhoods that were devastated by Anderson Oak finish Accomodates most 27" TVs with VCR shelf Remove VCR shelf to hold most 32" TVs I9V2" 48Vs" In Stock! $9995 DELIVERY PROBLEMS If your newspaper is not delivered and can't reach your contract carrier by phone, call 478-71 71 before 8:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday anc before 10 a.m. Sundays. SERVICE e-mail: LDufaultoklahoman.cc SUBSCRIPTIONS Sky Alder finish Accomodates most 36" TVs In Stock! $15995 ADVERTISING Retail Price $336.95 Retail Price $225.95 Customer assembly required.

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