Storms left scattered damage around Pittsburg County

James Beaty, McAlester News-Capital, Okla.
·2 min read

Jun. 21—Storms which whipped through Pittsburg County over the weekend caused sporadic damage — but not enough to be included in a State of Emergency Declaration.

Storms hit the McAlester area along with other parts of the state over Saturday night into Sunday morning.

"We had widespread tree damage, power poles and electrical lines down," said McAlester/Pittsburg County Office of Emergency Manager Director Kevin Enloe.

"We had approximately 12 homes that received some damage, and one that was major," Enloe said Wednesday.

Enloe said he was not aware of any injuries resulting from the storms.

Much of the damage occurred in the northern part of Pittsburg County, although scattered damage was reported in other parts of the county as well.

Damage was reported in the southern and central parts of the county. Some trees along the High Hill Road area were torn or split and damage also occurred in Hartshorne.

Hartshorne Police Officer Weston Montgomery confirmed a huge tree that was shredded south of downtown resulted from the storm. A nearby business was surrounded by yellow tape following damage from the storm.

All of the damage is believed to have occurred from powerful straight line winds, Enloe said, with one burst reaching 120 mph 7,000 feet above the ground.

Winds of up to 90 mph were recorded in the Indianola area, with 60 mph winds in the Shady Grove area, he said.

Much of the county had lesser amounts, although the winds were still strong.

"In McAlester, winds were about 45 miles per hour," Enloe said. "Winds picked up again south of the city."

Enloe said the winds were measured by storm spotters, using Anemometers, which are hand-held wind measuring devices.

He told Pittsburg County commissioners during their Tuesday meeting he did not think the county had enough damage to rise to the threshold required for inclusion in an emergency disaster declaration.

He proved to be right.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who was out of the country on Tuesday, asked Oklahoma Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat to sign an executive order declaring a State of Emergency in Creek, Choctaw, Delaware, Harper, Mayes, Pawnee, Payne, Rogers, Tulsa and Wagoner counties, with Choctaw County the only southeastern Oklahoma county included.

Enloe expected the cleanup in parts of Pittsburg County to continue this week.

"They'll be clearing stuff for awhile," he said. "There's lot of debris."