PEGGS, Okla. — Daylight on Tuesday revealed the damage from a tornado that moved through the Peggs area on Monday night.
It is far and wide destruction in town, and there are pieces of metal, clothing and personal belongings strewn around the town. The tornado was rated as a preliminary EF-2 by the National Weather Service.
We are surveying Peggs #OKwx #tornado damage from last night’s storm. Path is at least a mile wide leading up to town and we’ve already found structural damage and tree damage that is consistent with EF-2. Survey continues.
— NWS Tulsa (@NWStulsa) May 21, 2019
Now, businesses and homeowners are working to get back on their feet.
One homeowner said he had never seen anything like this, with decades-old trees spilled all across the yard, and a crumpled roof over the house and garage.
The storm struck at about 10:30 p.m. on Monday.
Terry Hicks tells us that his wife collapsed to take cover in the hallway when the power went out and the winds started picking up. He heard trees cracking and breaking all around him.
"I hit the floor, she hit the floor, I covered her up, and we waited it out. Then we got up to try and stop the water from coming through the bedroom ceiling," Hicks said.
Now, the focus is cleanup. Hicks says they're trying to lift trees off the home. His cars are trapped in the garage, and their bedroom ceiling is bashed in, causing constant flooding with the ongoing rain.
But the homeowner says without the surrounding trees, wind damage to the home could have been much worse.
"You can see the trees from this way all the way around," Hicks said. "It blew out my porch railing and the post out, hit the back corner of the house and then took out my patio, that'll have to be replaced."
Next door, a detailing shop was leveled, and the adjoining gas station estimated about half a million dollars in damage. Employees are eager to get the business back up and running, saying they rely on the summer season profits to get through the year.
"In the wintertime it's a small community, we struggle. So this is our time to shine and, anyway... I'm not sure what our rebuilding time will be," Cowboys owner Clay Saffell said.
But Saffel said he's not a quitter and will rebuild in the months ahead.
Family and friends from across the community continue to help with cleanup efforts. The homeowner says he's just happy to see his family alive and well.
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