Published: April 01, 2008 10:46 am      

Storm dumps heavy rain as sirens sound

Storms swept through Southeastern Oklahoma on Monday, prompting the sounding of storm sirens in McAlester and causing damage in some outlying areas.

Kiowa proved the hardest hit, with part of the roof torn off the Methodist church, a toppled power pole, downed power lines, uprooted trees and other damage.

No injuries were reported, said Pittsburg County Emergency Management Director Treat Myers.

However, several people, including some children, were reported injured in an automobile accident in McAlester which occurred as storms pushed through the city.

Myers said a series of storms hit Pittsburg County on Monday afternoon.

“We had three cells that came through,” Myers said.

“The first one came through on the north end of the county around 3 p.m.,” he said. “It came through and caught the edge of Indianola and went through Longtown.”

While it brought heavy rain and light hail, Myers said he’s received no reports of damage from the first storm that passed through the county.

Soon afterwards, another storm pushed through from the west.

“The second one passed through Stuart and Arpelar and Pyle Mountain,” Myers said.

“We had a report of rotation at the industrial park at 3:53 p.m.,” he said, referring to a sighting by a storm spotter near the Steven Taylor Industrial Park, west of the city.

“That’s when we set the sirens off,” Myers said.

About nine minutes later, storm spotters reported rotation near Brad Fenton Nissan, Myers said.

That storm resulted in nickel-sized hail and winds which reached about 30 miles an hour, he said.

At 5:42 p.m., the third storm hit Kiowa.

“We had straight line winds up to 65 to 70 miles per hour,” Myers said.

That’s the storm that caused the damage to the church and other property, he said.

Two mobile homes in the Forth Street area were reported moved on their foundations by the storm, he said.

In addition to the other damage, Kiowa Court Clerk Lenora DeBoard said some trees were uprooted by the storm.

The storm caused more damage as it headed east.

“We also had damage to two large metal buildings east of Pittsburg,” Myers said. A building over a gas compressor was also reported blown into a field, he said.

Much of the county, including McAlester, had some temporary flash flooding of streets and roads, Myers said.

The McAlester auto accident occurred near the intersection of B Street and Monroe Avenue at 5:31 p.m. during a heavy downpour, said McAlester Police Det. Capt. Don Hass.

The accident occurred as Peggy Sue Means, 42, of McAlester, drove north on B Street in a 2003 Chevrolet pickup and Maegan Long, 21, of McAlester, was westbound on Monroe Avenue, in a 2003 X 52 Ford, according to Hass.

McAlester police reports showed the accident occurred after the Means pickup failed to yield at a stop sign, entered the intersection and was struck by the Ford driven by Long, Hass said.

The pickup rolled after the collision and Means had to be extracted from the vehicle, Hass said.

Those who were transported to McAlester Regional Health Center from the pickup included Means, and passengers Gabryella Means, who is approximately 18 months old, according to police.

Two more passengers, David Stuart, 44, and Patricia Stuart, 39, were also transported to the hospital, Hass said.

Long did not have to be transported to the hospital because of injuries from the accident, but two children who were passengers in her vehicle went to the hospital, Hass said.

Nina Ludlum, 5, and Caden Dickey, 4, were both transported to the hospital from the accident scene, he said.

Meanwhile, no reports have been confirmed of actual tornadoes striking in Pittsburg County, although the storms were intense, Myers said.

“We pretty much caught the brunt of it,” he said.

Myers said it had been the right decision to sound the tornado warning sirens in McAlester because of the two sightings by storm spotters of rotation in the area.

“If we wait until there’s a funnel on the ground and it’s moving 40 miles per hour and it’s at the industrial park, by the time we’d give a warning, it would be too late,” Myers said.

“I would rather warn them when there’s rotation.”

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.