Victim Recounts Skiatook Tornado 20 Years Later

Rick Wells, News On 6

SKIATOOK, Oklahoma -- The tornado outbreak 20 years ago not only hit Oologah but also Skiatook.

4/26/2011 Related Story: Oologah Residents Remember Devastating Tornado 20 Years Later

Picking through the wreckage that used to be your grandmother's home is a most unhappy memory for a second grader.  That second grader of 20 years ago is all grown up, and on Tuesday, she got a measure of tornado security bolted to the floor of her garage.

Bailei Losey won for her family a Safe Room the prize in an essay contest.

Bailei was a second grader at Marrs Elementary in Skiatook. She wrote an essay about her experience April 26th of 1991. She said it was a day kind of like today.

"It was clear sunny nice day like this; then it hit and chaos broke loose," she said.

She said they raced home from a birthday party to get to shelter. The storm missed them but her grandmother's mobile home was hit.

"It flipped the trailer upside down," she said.

She said they had to pick up the walls to search underneath for personal items they might want to keep.

There were lots of folks in Skiatook doing the same thing the day after the tornado outbreak.

Bailei was searching the internet for information about the storm 20 years ago and came upon the essay contest. She wrote up her story of 20 years ago, and she won.

The crew from Jim Giles Safe Rooms is securing first prize to the floor in the garage, so now Bailei and her husband John have a safe place for themselves and four month old Morgan.

"I want her to be safe, I know the bathtub will not hold us," Bailei said.

That same storm system hit Westport near Keystone Lake first, and then moved on to Skiatook before the most devastating strike at Oologah.