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A4 U.S. NEWS
Monday 7 noveMber 2022
Deadly tornadoes hit Texas and Oklahoma, flatten buildings

By Jake Bleiberg and Ken basket of toiletries from in-
Miller side the wreckage of their
Associated Press house.
IDABEL, Okla. (AP) — Resi- The couple and the three
dents in southeastern Okla- kids who live with them
homa and northeastern did not have renter’s in-
Texas began assessing surance, Lori Davis said,
weather damage Satur- and none of their furniture
day, working to recover survived. “We’re going to
and thankful to have sur- have to start from scratch,”
vived after a storm stretch- she said.
ing from Dallas to northwest They hope to stay with
Arkansas spawned torna- family until they can find a
does and produced flash place to live.
flooding, killing at least two “The next few days look like
people, injuring others and rough times,” Terimaine Da-
leaving homes and build- vis said.
ings in ruins. Judge Brandon Bell, the
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt highest elected official in
went to the town of Ida- Lamar County where Pow-
bel to see the damage. He derly is located, declared
said on social media that a disaster in that area. Bell’s
all the homes had been declaration said at least
searched and a 90-year- two dozen people were in-
old man was killed. Keli jured across the county.
Cain, spokesperson for Powderly is about 45 miles
the state’s Department of (72 kilometers) west of Ida-
Emergency Management, bel and about 120 miles
said the man’s body was (193 kilometers) northeast
found at his home in the of Dallas and both are near
Pickens area of McCurtain Danny Palmer, a deacon at Trinity Baptist Church, walks across the destroyed church's sanctuary the Texas-Oklahoma bor-
County, about 36 miles (58 Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, while looking for items to salvage after a tornado hit Idabel, Okla. der.
(AP Photo/LM Otero)
kilometers) north of Idabel. The National Weather Ser-
Morris County, Texas, Judge quirements. ture next door, according we had to lay over the kids vice in Fort Worth confirmed
Doug Reeder said in a so- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to Pastor Don Myer. because everything start- three tornadoes - in Lamar,
cial media post that one said damage assessments The 250-member congre- ed going crazy,” Villalpan- Henderson and Hopkins
person died as a result of and recovery efforts are gation was to vote after the do said. counties - Friday night as a
a tornado in the far north- under way in northeast Tex- Sunday service on whether “I’ve never been so ter- line of storms dropped rain
eastern Texas County, of- as and encouraged resi- to move ahead with he fi- rified,” she said. “I could and sporadic hail on the
fering no other details. dents to report damage to nal work to complete the hear glass breaking and Dallas-Fort Worth area and
Reeder and other county the Texas Division of Emer- building, Myer told The As- things shattering around, continued to push east-
officials did not immedi- gency Management. sociated Press. but whenever I got out of ward.
ately return phone calls for “I have deployed all avail- “But we didn’t get to that. the bathroom, my heart The weather service’s of-
additional comment. able resources to help re- Every vote counts and we and my stomach sank be- fice in Shreveport, Louisi-
The Oklahoma Highway spond and recover,” Ab- had one vote trump us all,” cause I have kids and it ana, said it was assessing
Patrol also reported a bott said in a statement. ”I Myer, 67, said. “We were could have been much the damage in Oklahoma.
6-year-old girl drowned thank all of our hardworking right on the verge of that. worse. ... What if our bath- Weather service meteorol-
and a 43-year-old man was state and local emergency That’s how close we were.” room had caved in just ogist Bianca Garcia in Fort
missing after their vehicle management personnel Myer said the congrega- like everything else? We Worth said while peak se-
was swept by water off a for their swift response.” tion is going to pray on wouldn’t be here.” vere weather season typi-
bridge near Stilwell, about National Weather Ser- what happened, see how Terimaine Davis and his son cally is in the spring, torna-
135 miles (217 kilometers) vice meteorologist Robert much their insurance cov- were huddled in the bath- dos occasionally develop
north of Idabel. The drown- Darby in Tulsa said the far- ers and work to rebuild. On tub until just before the tor- in October, November, De-
ing has not been officially reaching storm produced Saturday morning, a few nado barreled through Fri- cember and even January.
attributed to the storm and heavy rain in the Stilwell members of the church day, reducing their home in “It’s not very common,”
will be investigated by the area at the time, around 4 took an American flag that Powderly to a roofless, sag- Garcia said, “but it
medical examiner, Cain inches (10.16 centimeters). had been blown over in the ging heap. does happen across our
said. Idabel, a rural town of storm and stood it upright “We left like five minutes region.”q
Saturday afternoon Stitt de- about 7,000 at the foothills amid the wreckage of the before the tornado actu-
clared a state of emergen- of the Ouachita Mountains, original church building. ally hit,” Davis, 33, told The
cy for McCurtain County, saw extensive damage, Shelbie Villalpando, 27, of Associated Press. “Me and
where Idabel is located, Cain said. “There are well Powderly, Texas, said she my son were in the house in
and neighboring Bryan, over 100 homes and busi- was eating dinner with her the tub and that was about
Choctaw and LeFlore nesses damaged from mi- family Friday when torna- the only thing left stand-
counties. nor damage to totally de- do sirens prompted them ing.”
The declaration is a step stroyed,” Cain said. to congregate first in their In their driveway Saturday
in qualifying for federal as- Trinity Baptist Church in Ida- rented home’s hallways, morning, a child’s car seat
sistance and funding and bel was preparing to com- then with her children, leaned against a dented,
clears the way for state plete a new building when aged 5, 10 and 14, in the grey Chevrolet sedan with
agencies to make disaster- the storm ripped apart their bathtub. several windows blown out.
recovery related purchases sanctuary and flattened “Within two minutes of get- Around back, his wife, Lori
without limits on bidding re- the shell of the new struc- ting them in the bathtub, Davis, handed Terimaine a