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'It was our turn': Bearden family cleaning up after storm hits homes

Posted at 3:57 PM, Apr 29, 2024
and last updated 2024-05-02 11:17:45-04

BEARDEN, Okla. — Friends, neighbors, and family members are helping an Okfuskee County family clean up after weekend storms ripped through their property leaving significant damage behind.

It was all hands on deck at Dwight Simpson’s home just on the edge of Bearden, Oklahoma. 

“We were sitting right in the middle of it and right on the highest elevation so guess what it was our turn,” said Dwight Simpson. 

His 62 years in Oklahoma taught him it was only a matter of time. 

“I stuck my head out of the storm shelter, I saw trees laying on the house,” said Simpson. “I couldn’t see the house. It was still raining pretty hard.” 

He and his wife are okay but the property is a different story. There are piles of debris and shattered glass on a few trucks. 

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SEE MORE: Storm damage in Bearden

“It actually took the truck up, turned it upside down, dumped all of the feed out of the feed box and dumped the contents of the bed right here and then set it back down,” said Simpson. 

There was significant roof damage and windows blown out of the Simpson’s home. Some of their property was thrown up to half a mile away. 

“It’s kind of like the movie Twister, we had combines flying in the air literally,” said Simpson. 

Just up the driveway from their main home, the house Dwight grew up in is flattened. They were fixing it up just hours before the storm hit. There are only a few concrete steps left behind and the roof is sitting on the grass in a pile of debris.

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“It was a bad storm,” said Simpson. 

Despite the mess left behind, Simpson said it’s the support of his community that’s been a game-changer in the clean up. 

“We work together out here,” said Simpson. “You can see the people out here working.” 

Okfuskee County Emergency Manager Jim Copeland said 3 homes had very severe damage along with 1 other property. They had no reports of injuries.

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