Fire chief: 'We were lucky, basically'
Oklahoma City area officials count their blessings that no one died in tornado
The morning after a tornado destroyed more than 300 houses and businesses in and around Oklahoma City, firefighters went from one wrecked home to another Friday and spray-painted a big, red X on each roof if no one was trapped.
There were a lot of Xs: Grateful authorities said that remarkably, the twister that carved a 19-mile path through the most densely populated part of the state did not kill a single person.
"We were lucky, basically," said Gary Bird, deputy fire chief in suburban Moore. "We had warning from the National Weather Service, and Moore had replaced and upgraded all of its warning sirens, so that helped a lot. People pay a lot more attention."
The state insurance commissioner estimated damage at more than $100 million. But in a week where tornadoes killed 42 people in Missouri, Tennessee, Kansas, and Illinois, officials here were counting their blessings.
"It's amazing to me that we didn't lose lives," Gov. Brad Henry said after walking through devastated neighborhoods in Moore.
More than 100 people were treated for injuries after the tornado, but only 21 remained hospitalized Friday, said Paul O'Leary, a spokesman for Oklahoma City's ambulance service. At least three were in critical condition.
The tornado ripped through southern Oklahoma City with winds the National Weather Service measured at about 200 mph.
About 50 homes and 10 businesses were heavily damaged or destroyed in Oklahoma City. In nearby Choctaw, nearly 100 homes were damaged and 10 to 15 were destroyed, fire officials said.
The heaviest damage was in Moore, where the tornado chewed up a path a quarter-mile wide and 31/2miles long. Bird said 300 homes and 35 businesses were destroyed.
In the South, floodwaters blamed for at least one death began receding in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. Hundreds of people fled their homes this week because of high water on the Tennessee River and other streams.
The Tennessee River reached its highest level since 1973, damaging nearly 500 buildings and causing millions of dollars in damage in Chattanooga, Tenn. Some 300 people left West Point, Ga., as the Chattahoochee River reached its highest level since at least 1961.
Police in Chattanooga found the body of a man in a flooded tire lot. In nearby East Ridge, some of the more than 1,000 evacuees were returning to their houses, apartments, and a retirement center.
"A lot of the water has receded. It's like somebody has pulled the cork out of the drain," Deputy Fire Chief Ken Gann said.