Marina Hit Hard By Storms

Severe storms over the weekend caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and left several people with minor injuries. Strong winds whipped up problems near Lake Eufaula State Park, south of I-40 in McIntosh County. News On 6 anchor Craig Day reports as a thunderstorm raced through McIntosh County on Saturday, the Lake Eufaula Marina was in its path and took a direct hit.

"The wind was so strong and the hail was so strong, you couldn't even see until it all cleared out," said Jason Brown, marina owner.

What marina owner Jason Brown found once the weather cleared, was a mess. 80 mph winds jumbled the docks against each other.

"This whole hangar of slips is supposed to be facing out this way," said Brown.

Brown says instead, one dock faces east and west instead of north and south. Also, steel beams were bent like paper.

"It was powerful enough to move all this and just rip the steel off the marina like it was nothing, just hit each one of them and they dominoed into each other," said Brown.

A short distance away, several travel trailers at Lake Eufaula State Park were rolled by the strong wind.

"It was very isolated. I don't know if the awnings acted as a sail or what, but these three trailers just took a lot of damage," said Sue Hughart, State Park Manager.

The park's manager says despite the damage, it could have been worse, especially if the storms would have hit a few weeks ago or on a holiday weekend when the park would have been packed.

There were two people inside one camper when that powerful storm hit. In fact, crews had to rescue them by knocking out glass from the window. To make matters worse, they had just bought the camper trailer, and this was their first outing.

"It's odd how the damage happened severe in one area and a tent, 100 yards away, didn't sustain any damage at all," said Hughart.

Three people were taken by private vehicles to an area hospital with minor scrapes and cuts.
Damage to the marina is estimated at $300 to $500 thousand. The owner says the store and gas dock will reopen soon. But, they're not sure how many repairs they'll be able to make by the Labor Day holiday weekend.