SKIATOOK, Okla — Skiatook was one of the areas affected by storms that hit early morning on May 24.
According to Bryan Turner, the foreman for Skiatook's Electric Department, about 550 households were impacted by power outages.
Crews are currently working to get power back on for residents by Saturday evening.
Billy Woods has been living in Skiatook for 18 years and is one of the residents whose power went out.
“We're just waiting for it to kick back on," said Woods. "It's about all you can do.”
Woods said he was awake when the storm hit his neighborhood.
“It was probably about a 70-mile-an-hour wind, so it blew through, and then it quit after about 30 minutes or so," he said. "I didn't even know it blew that tree over in my front yard.”
The straight-line winds knocked over a massive tree in Woods' backyard onto the street, but he's glad it didn't hit his home.
He said the city helped cut up the tree and pile it up so haul it off, and he couldn't be more grateful.
"It's a good place to live," he said. "Everybody does come together and try to help one another whenever they can.
The winds also caused some property damage, specifically to the city's municipal building.
Skiatook Emergency Manager and Fire Chief James Annas responded to the scene.
“It was outside normal working hours, the computers were running, that was about it," he said. "Otherwise, the building was unoccupied at the time and nobody was injured.”
Annas also said there have been no reported fatalities or injuries in Skiatook due to the storm.
He also said he's thankful to everyone who pitched in to help clean up.
“This is a pretty, pretty tight-knit community, and everybody chips in when the times are tough," he said.
John Stowe is a manager with Covenant Restorations, a local Skiatook company.
He and his team came to provide a temporary fix to the municipal building's roof, which was the most affected.
"We kinda call it straight-line winds because the debris that came off the building came and landed pretty much in a straight line," he said. "Where if it was tornadic-type damage, it would be debris thrown around in a circular pattern."
He said he and his crew know how important it is to stick together through tough times.
"This is our city hall, it's the main offices for the city, so we're obviously going to affect the operations of the city temporarily," said Stowe. "We're gonna do our best to bounce back and have things temporarily back in order for Tuesday morning, for regular business."
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