Muskogee County Farmers Assess Wind Damage After Storms Blow Through

Farmers along the Arkansas River in southern Muskogee are still cleaning up from Thursday's damaging thunderstorms. High winds flipped equipment and tore metal roofs off  buildings.

A weather station near Webbers Falls recorded the highest winds in the state as storms rolled through. Friday, farmers were still surveying the damage. 

On farms around Webbers Falls several irrigation pivots turned over when the high winds came through, now the farmers are assessing the damage. They say those pivots are going to cost thousands of dollars to fix and replace.

"It's not good to see them turned over, but the good thing is we don't have to run them either," said farmer Bryan Casinger. 

Casinger has farmed all his life in Oklahoma.

Thursday's storms had him running inside for cover. 

"I looked out the door and stuff was just flying everywhere," said Bryan Casinger. 

Wind speeds from a Oklahoma Mesonet weather station recorded gusts more than 80 mph.

The weather station is just yards away from another weather station on the roof at a local airport.  When the storm hit the Gould family were inside their office at AgraTech at the Webbers Falls Airport. The wind gauge clocked gusts at 104 mph. 

Farmers say one of the irrigation pivots blew onto one of the county roads, others were turned upside down. 

"We sure wouldn't think this time of year, we worry about it more in our wheat crop early in the Spring, but you never know what's going to happen, you just got to face it as it comes," said Cody Sloan of Sloan Farms. 

Cody Sloan says they'll have to wait after the soybean harvest to flip the pivots over and see what the damage is. 

"Just very expensive stuff to fix, but it's all fixable," said Cody Sloan. His father says parts could cost between $15,000 and $20,000.