The weather in Oklahoma isn’t something surprises anyone who’s native to the area.
We have yearly bouts with tornadoes, heavy rain, usually a sizable drought and if you’re especially unlucky, a solid blizzard or ice storm to round out the winter season.
Usually, when we get hit with a severe storm, we take a bit to recover and we’re back on our proverbial feet within a couple days or so.
Probably not so much this time around.
In less than 24 hours, Sapulpa and greater Creek County was hit with not one, but two very strong thunderstorms, each producing winds anywhere from 50 -75 miles and hour and higher.
Video: See live footage of the storm in downtown Sapulpa
Trees seem to be the largest casualty of the storms; dozens of them were reported down all around the county on Thursday morning. By the time 5pm rolled around, that number had climbed much higher.
And trees being what they are, aren’t content to merely fall over in your yard for you to find in the morning. Oh no, they like to take collateral damage with them, be it a power line, a rooftop, a chainlink fence or a vehicle. Some trees are especially mischievous, and understand that they can have a greater effect if they’ll just fall over across a roadway, blocking traffic for as many as possible.
And of course, the success of falling trees has caused other inanimate objects to feel left out in such a way that in a fit of jealousy, they too decide to become a victim to the storm. Amongst the dozens of trees you can find the not-so-occasional basketball hoop and metal barn.
More than 10,000 people were without power this morning. After the second storm in the greater Tulsa area, it swelled to nearly 100,000 people. For some, power was restored Thursday evening, but others may not be so lucky. One woman in Pretty Water said that Indian Electric told her it may be Saturday before power could be restored.
“They are saying they have seven counties without power right now,” she said.
At time of this article, there had been no injuries or deaths reported as a result of this storm system. Hopefully, there will be no news in that regard.
See the gallery of the 2016 July storm damage
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Sapulpa Times wishes to thank Cindy McDonald, Kathie McDaniel, Julia Choquette, Robert and Evelyn Gaches, Cynthia Zachary and Mike Lawson for their contributions to this story.
