Strong Winds Knock Over Muskogee Business

It may be Sunday before power companies will be able to restore electricity to the north side of Muskogee, where wind took down lines, tore off rooftops, and flattened a business.

The wind raked across the west and north side of Muskogee, with the damage most concentrated right there.

5/18/2017 Related Story: Widespread Storm Damage Reported In Muskogee

The TintShop opened here 14 years ago, and one storm isn't going to put Michele Brooks out of business.

“I think the new building is going to have a storm room to have a hidey-hole I can go to if I'm here and caught in the weather,” she said.

Brooks remained cheerful as she looked at what she lost.

“This is my home away from home,” she said.

But the storm pushed her building down and scattered some of her collectibles. She found about it watching weather coverage.

“We decided everything is good, the storm is passed, we'll go to sleep,” she said.

Then the alarm company called, and soon she saw it on television.

Brook said, “Somebody pulled up to it and said ‘We're here at a tint shop,’ and they said the building has collapsed on itself, and I looked and thought, ‘That's my building, my building is gone.’”

There's damage where the storm first hit Muskogee, and in a path to the northeast.

A large power line fell when some poles broke along the Shawnee bypass. The disruption backed up traffic because signal lights weren't working.

Several businesses had roof damage and many were without power for most of the day.

Brook was surprised by the force of the wind and what it did to her building.

“Shoved over and it's all out there in the woods,” she said.

Brook is confident she will rebuild. She has insurance and her only question is where and when.