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Tornado hits midtown Tulsa gym, tearing off two sides of the building

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TULSA -- Dozens of businesses are left to clean up massive damage after an EF2 tornado ripped through midtown, but now they're getting a lot of help from caring members of the community.

The storm brought down two massive walls and took off most of the roof from the 9,000-square foot gym at Okie CrossFit, located near 44th and Sheridan.

The damage may have put a pause on classes for a day, but people still got in their workout helping gym owner Jake Crandall.

"I've been getting reached out to by other owners in Tulsa, other owners of both coasts, just friends of mine asking what can we do to help?" Crandall said. "It's pretty amazing to watch us come together as one gym and then just as a larger CrossFit community."

Crandall's athletes made quick work of cleaning up the space that no longer has walls or much of a ceiling. Moving the expensive, hefty equipment out of the rain hardly phased Kate Reddick and the others because, after all, they train hard to heavy lifting.

"My husband and I were just thinking that we were waiting to come work out today," Reddick said. "We kind of got a workout here already, just cleaning up."

Plenty of businesses nearby felt the brunt of the storm, too. Many windows are missing from the 18-story Remington Tower near I-44, while most of the roof came down inside the Kelly-Moore paint store near 43rd and Sheridan.

In the same shopping center, Lance Standlee owns two businesses, Best Insurance and 51 Wraps, that both sustained significant damage.

"This has definitely been a little bit of a disappointment," Standlee said after boarding up a large broken window, "but, on the other side, at least no one's hurt. Everyone seems to be pulling together."

Crews have already begun working to fix the roofs above his place. While at the CrossFit gym, the athletes showed how much stronger they are than any storm.

"Business goes on," Crandall said. "It's a little hiccup on a Sunday, but, after that ,we're just going to be hard-charging and ready to go."

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