Barnsdall Residents Frustrated They Cannot Rebuild Their Homes After Tornadoes

Some people from Barnsdall were frustrated after being told they couldn't rebuild their homes on property they own after a tornado destroyed them. 

The town's Mayor said the debris in Bird Creek was to blame and that it would be a tedious process to get it all cleaned out.

Empty lots and debris still cover half the town in Barnsdall after the May 2024 tornado "It just seems like everybody moved away and like it's trying to be a ghost town or something and I don't want it to be," said resident Frank Aldridge. 

Aldridge was the first homeowner to build back after the storm. "This is home, this is where I want to be," he said. 

His new house sat right across the street from the floodplain. "I'm going to miss them neighbors, they were good, they were good neighbors. And these are pretty good neighbors right here beside me, and old Swift over here, he was a darn good neighbor," Aldridge said remembering those who lived by him. 

But he wasn't sure if those neighbors would be back because Barnsdall Mayor, Johnny Kelley, said those lots sat in the floodplain. "Those number of people, I understand their frustration they want to get to building back and stuff like that, but we have to follow the proper process, or like I said it's not good for the town," Mayor Kelley said. 

Before they could rebuild, the creek would have to be cleaned out. Mayor Kelley said that was a complicated and time-consuming process. "If we don't go through that process and follow it properly and just allow people to rebuild in the floodplain without doing our due diligence on that then the city gets kicked out of any federal grant programs," said Mayor Kelley. 

While property owners waited, Frank hoped the lonely feeling in town would go away soon, "I'll be glad when they're back, I sure will."

Mayor Kelley said at the time that they were waiting for the scope of work to be approved by the Osage nation because there could be tribal artifacts in the creek.

Once that happened, the city would look for companies to clean out the debris.