Spavinaw Residents Survey Aftermath Of Early Morning Tornado

There were few places left untouched by the EF1 rated tornado that rocked Spavinaw.

Thursday, April 18th 2013, 10:43 pm



The National Weather Service has confirmed both Broken Arrow and Spavinaw were hit with EF1 tornadoes early Thursday morning. The tornado in Inola was rated at an EF0. The one outside of Grove was the strongest, at an EF2.

There were few places left untouched by the tornado that rocked Spavinaw.

"My town, it just makes me sad. I love this town," said Amanda Harvey.

Trees were ripped up by their roots. Some landed on porches, others split homes in half.

"You look around--these are people's homes, this is where we call home," Harvey said.

For Harvey, it wasn't her home that was torn apart, it was her livelihood. There's now a slab of concrete where her business, Spavinaw Recycling, once stood.

"It supplies my way of living to pay my bills and now it's gone," Harvey said. "I was just devastated, in tears, just saddened."

But once the shock settled, Harvey wiped the tears away and took on the tall task of picking up the pieces.

4/18/2013 Related Story: Storm Damages School, Homes In Spavinaw

And she's not the only one. The sounds of chainsaws and hammering could be heard on every side of town.

Jerry Ault will need a chainsaw and a tarp soon. Two trees took out his car port and knocked some holes in his roof, but he said fixing the damage to his home can wait until tomorrow. For now, he's just thankful things weren't worse.

"Believe it or not, the fact that everybody's safe, that's the most important part. The Lord blessed us on that one," Ault said.

There are about 28 families in Spavinaw who no longer have a home.

The Red Cross has set up a shelter at the Methodist church, where those victims can get a warm meal and hopefully a good night's rest before another day of cleanup comes Friday.

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