By Roger McKinney
rmckinney@joplinglobe.com
PICHER, Okla. — Tressie Gilmore was preparing dinner for her two daughters on Saturday when she looked out the window. She saw a tornado on the west side of a chat pile, stirring up debris.
She said she grabbed her girls — one in each arm — and dived into a closet along with her mother and stepfather, Joan and John Hutchison.
Gilmore, who lives in Miami, was visiting her mother and stepfather on Saturday.
While inside the closet, Gilmore said, she felt the house move from its foundation.
“We slid with the house on top of us,” she said. “The girls were in my arms.”
The house came to rest several feet from its foundation.
They were trapped inside the wreckage for 20 or 30 minutes
The girls, Kaitlynn, 5, and Layla, 2, were unharmed except for a few scratches. Gilmore also was uninjured.
Her mother required hospitalization for bruised ribs, but Gilmore said she was expected to be released Sunday afternoon.
“They’re just going to start over,” Gilmore said when asked what her mother and stepfather were going to do next.
Six dead
Six people were confirmed dead from the tornado in Picher, said Michelann Ooten, public information officer with the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. She said more than 150 people were injured.
George Brown, public information officer for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, said it may be several days before the names of the dead are released. He said Sunday that the victims have not all been identified, and relatives must be notified after the dead are identified.
Brown said two adult men and four adult women died. One woman and one man were found in a wastewater lagoon. Two women were found near their homes on the west side of town. One woman, the mother of an infant, was found near her house. The infant was taken to a Tulsa hospital for treatment, Brown said. One man was found in a tree.
Amanda Carolus, 23, on Sunday was in her yard, trying to salvage a few things from her destroyed house. She took shelter in the bathroom with her mother and father on Saturday. No one was hurt, but she said the house fell apart from the tornado’s force.
Sue Sigle, who teaches second and third grade in Picher, was visiting her son and daughter in Branson, Mo., when the tornado demolished her house. She said she saw coverage of the tornado on a Springfield, Mo., television station, so she had an idea what to expect when she returned home Sunday.
She said she had decided to visit her children in Branson, rather than them visiting her.
“Things could have been a lot worse,” Sigle said. “It’s just a blessing I was down there.”
She said she was worried about the children in her class, but she didn’t think any were injured.
Looking through the wreckage that was her home, Sigle found many photos and mementos that brought back fond memories. Those included a photo of her former house.
“There are a lot of special memories,” she said.
Accounted for
Gov. Brad Henry arrived Sunday afternoon. Flying in on a military helicopter, he first stopped at the fire station to talk with firefighters and other emergency workers. He also made a brief statement and addressed questions. Henry also visited Sigle at her demolished house.
Henry said everyone was accounted for, and the death count was not expected to rise. He said his prayers went out to all Oklahomans affected by recent tornadoes.
“It’s horrific,” he said of the deaths. “It’s devastating.”
He said he had activated the National Guard to assist in securing the area.
He said the search and rescue phase of the effort had ended, and recovery was beginning.
“We will do everything to get the help that the people of Picher and Ottawa County need,” Henry said.
He said Oklahomans are resilient.
“We will overcome this adversity, just as we always do,” Henry said.
Buyout plan
Gov. Brad Henry addressed the federal buyout of houses in Picher. He said the tornado may complicate things, but the procedure will continue, including for those whose houses had not been appraised.
“The buyout will go forward,” Henry said.
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