Oklahoma homeowner looks to rebuild after destructive tornado hits neighborhood
By Jason Burger
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NORMAN, Oklahoma (KOCO) — Homeowners in parts of Norman have no choice but to leave after Sunday night’s tornado made their homes unlivable.
A man’s home in a neighborhood near Wheatland Drive and Cloverdale Lane near 24th Avenue took some of the worst hits on the streets. He told KOCO 5 that he’s still shaken up, but he wants to rebuild.
“My sister-in-law came in the room and told me there was a lightning show. And then the warnings sounded off,” Michael O’Brian said.
And then another sound that woke O’Brian up in the worst way blared.
“I thought it was a bomb,” he said.
The tornado came through O’Brian’s neighborhood, causing destruction to numerous homes.
“A couple of cats are still missing,” he said.
It’s amazing to see how one house was destroyed and others are still standing. A drone camera captured some of the path of destruction that O’Brian’s home was in.
Norman resident Sitara Richter-Addo, who is with the mutual-aid group Red Dirt Collective that helps keep food pantries stocked, was out giving free food and water to those who need it most.
“There are people who are coming by and saying, ‘We don’t know what we’re going to do for food tonight.’ So I said, ‘Take a whole bag of apples, please,’” Richter-Addo said.
The harsh reality is that most homeowners in the area have to leave their houses the way they are for now.
“A lot of people are waiting on insurance to see before they clean up their stuff, too,” Richter-Addo said.
The hardest part is doing everything they can with the time they have.
“We just had the insurance guy out here looking at the place,” O’Brian said. “So, we’re going to rebuild, but it’s going to take time.”
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