By Greg Grisolano
ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com
PICHER, Okla. — Margie Irene Seamands, 84, 4275 S. Highway 69, has been identified as the seventh victim of Saturday’s tornado.
She died of carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator that was set up in her garage, said Trooper Betsy Randolph with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Two other people living in her home were hospitalized.
That tornado killed six other adults in Picher on Saturday.
Oklahoma school officials on Tuesday decided to cancel classes for the rest of the school year in the Picher-Cardin and Quapaw districts. State Superintendent Sandy Garrett said she would allow the districts a waiver from the state law that mandates students must receive 175 days of instruction per school year.
The waivers must be approved by the state Board of Education. Both districts had canceled classes Monday and Tuesday.
Meanwhile, survivors continued trying to salvage anything they could from the wreckage of their homes on Tuesday, and emergency management personnel said cleanup efforts are under way.
At least 114 homes in Picher were destroyed by Saturday’s tornado — about 40 percent to 45 percent of the total homes left in the community, according to the Picher Fire Department. An additional 50 or so homes were damaged.
Frank Geasland, Ottawa County emergency management director, said the county is waiting on permits to start storing storm debris on the west and east ends of town.
“The cleanup has been going really good,” he said. “The environment is always an issue (in Picher), but every precaution is taken care of.”
During a news conference Tuesday in Picher, Gov. Brad Henry said he has filed a request for a federal disaster declaration for Ottawa County, and that any federal money awarded to the town would be used to relocate — not rebuild — homes devastated by the storm.
Henry also said the storm would not impede an ongoing buyout of Picher residents.
“If anything, the storm may hasten the process,” he said.
The governor said he does not believe rebuilding is an option, given Picher’s location in an EPA Superfund site that is heavily undermined.
“Frankly, rebuilding here is not going to be a real option,” Henry said. “Once the buyout process is completed, there won’t be the infrastructure here to support continued households and other activities. It just wouldn’t make sense for people to rebuild in the Tar Creek Superfund Site.”
Henry, along with U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and U.S. Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., toured the devastation Tuesday, accompanied by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Federal Emergency Management Agency Director David Paulison.
All pledged to provide support to Picher.
“We’re in it for the long haul,” Paulison said. “It’s a different FEMA than you saw two years ago. We’re going to be here with you.”
Inhofe said he and Boren would propose legislation to divert federal relief money to buying out residents.
“We have a buyout going on while a disaster takes place, and that’s unprecedented,” he said. “We’re going to try to divert as much of the money that would be coming in normally had there not been a buyout to hopefully accelerate the buyout.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Volunteer help
Members of the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army remained in Picher on Tuesday, providing meals and counseling for storm victims.
The Red Cross has set up a shelter for those whose homes were destroyed at the First Christian Church, 2424 N. Main St., Miami.
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