Hominy Picks Up After Tornado Touches Down

Emory Bryan, News On 6

HOMINY, Oklahoma -- More storms raked across northeast Oklahoma, leaving some damage but no injuries. A small tornado touched down near Hominy in Osage County.

The tornado wasn't very big, but it left a lot of damage to one business north of Hominy. Global Artificial Lift was in the path of the Hominy storm Thursday afternoon.

Ten overheard doors were blown out, and part of the metal building was ripped away. The company repairs and builds oil pumps, but that work has stopped until the building can be repaired.

Manager Austin Miller sent everyone home yesterday just before the storm arrived.

"We're glad we got everybody out, we just wanted everybody to be safe and to get home," Miller said.

The rotating storm approached from the West, passing near Pawnee. It hit two miles north of Hominy along Highway 99.

A half mile stretch of power lines came down and workers from Hominy Electric continued making repairs late Friday.

Several small buildings were damaged, mostly metal buildings and small barns. Several homes in the country further north were damaged too.

One house had shingles and guttering torn away, but the worst damage was to the Global Building where power is still out.

"Once we get electric back, the inside of the shop wasn't hurt bad enough and we'll be able to carry on production, and business, along with all the cleanup involved with it," Miller said.

Witnesses described a rotating storm and the National Weather Service says it was an EF-1.

"We're estimating winds around 85 miles an hour in the tornado," said Steve Piltz of the National Weather Service.

Meteorologist Steve Piltz was out looking at the damage to verify what they saw on radar.

"Part of it is for the climatological record. Everyone wants to know how many tornadoes there are each year in Oklahoma, so someone has to keep that count and then we put the E-F rating on it as a record of the strength," he said.

Another tornado came down in the area of Burbank. The National Weather Service says it was an even weaker EF-0.