Tornado Blows Roof Off Church

Tuesday, July 10th 2007, 3:55 pm

By: News On 6

Julyâ€™s first tornado cuts a path of destruction through a Muskogee County town. The National Weather Service confirmed on Tuesday that an F1 twister made its way through Warner on Monday. The storm caused damage to several roofs in town and blew off the roof of a church. Warner Police Chief Terry Thompson said he saw the tornado touch down near U.S. Highway 64 about 4:20 p.m. Monday and damage three structures.

"It was a big snakelike twister that tore part of the roof off
Pope Chapel Church," Thompson told the Muskogee Phoenix. "It
ripped the side off a house and tore a barn to pieces. It was an
F1; the weakest type of tornado, but I wouldn't have wanted to be
in this one."

Twenty-three tornadoes have touched down in Oklahoma this year.

In other parts of the state, tree damage done by high winds was reported near Okemah. Winds gusts of 70 mph near Hinton and 68 mph gusts in various parts of Norman also were reported. And there were reports of a possible tornado or straight-line winds
that blew the roof off a Eufaula office building as a severe storm moved through McIntosh County.