Published: May 13, 2008 11:47 am            

Inhofe pushing FEMA for action

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, of Tulsa, says he will make sure the heads of the Federal Emergency Management Agency know people in Pittsburg County need help too.

Inhofe spoke in the wake of tornadoes which swept through parts of Oklahoma, including the McAlester area, on Saturday.

Inhofe, back in Washington, D.C., on Monday afternoon, said he planned to return to Oklahoma today with the heads of FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security.

Inhofe made an earlier stop at Picher on Sunday. Now, he wants FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison and Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff to see the storm damage there for themselves.

“I assure you in talking to them, I won’t leave out Pittsburg County,” Inhofe said.

Inhofe spoke with the News-Capital Monday afternoon, with the conversation centering on the heavy storm damage some people here suffered — including several who lost their homes or substantial amounts of property.

Inhofe also said he will also work with state officials in trying to get help for Pittsburg County residents.

“I will call the governor,” Inhofe said.

Meanwhile, in Arch, Lisa Cohen said she and her husband, Geronimo Cohen, were still trying to salvage what they can from their home, which was destroyed in the tornado.

“The ice box was turned over,” she said. “Hopefully, it will still work.”

Friends helped the Cohens load a couch, chair and whatever other furniture they could save on the back of a truck.

Her husband said that while the family had a temporary place to stay with a neighbor, he didn’t know what the family would do in the long term.

“We’re homeless,” he said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

One of the Cohens’ injured horses and an injured dog are both requiring a veterinarian’s care, in addition to the injured horses and other animals they cared for themselves.

Some of the horses had thorns, pieces of wood and splinters in them following the storm, Geronimo Cohen said. Next door, his sister, Billie Jean Cohen, also saw her home destroyed in the storm and a brother, Rhode Cohen, who lived next to her, had his home damaged by the tornado.

At the Blue Valley Ranch, across a ridge and several miles from the Cohens, six horses were injured and another died as a result of the tornado.

“It leveled the long barn and the other is a shell,” Nancy Drumgold said. “We stayed up Saturday night stitching up horses.”

She said watering troughs and round hay bale rings were blown away.

In Haywood, the tornado blew away a large shop building and caused substantial damage to Gary and Earline Whitfield’s home and destroyed the Parham home on the other side of Haywood Road.

Those who’ve seen the tornado damage were amazed that no serious injuries were reported in Pittsburg County, where the National Weather Service said three different tornadoes struck late Saturday afternoon.

The tornado that struck four miles west/northwest of Haywood and the one that struck the Arch area southwest of Hartshorne were EF-2 tornadoes, the NWS said.

Maximum winds were 123 to 130 miles per hour in the Haywood tornado and 110 to 120 miles per hour in the Arch and Blue Valley area tornado, according to the NWS.

Another tornado briefly touched down on Lake Eufaula, but left no sign of damage in its path, the NWS said.

Those who’ve seen the tornado damage were amazed that no serious injuries were reported in Pittsburg County.

Pittsburg County Office of Emergency Management Director Trent Myers said he is sending photos of the damage in Pittsburg County to the state Office of Emergency Management.

        

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