TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Strong storms that moved through the Tahlequah area the evening of 6/25 left hundreds of people without power and caused scattered damage across Cherokee County, though emergency officials said no injuries or deaths were reported.
For Tahlequah resident Joshua Scott, the storm is one his family won’t soon forget.
WATCH: Strong storms leave scattered damage across Cherokee County:
“We were pretty scared, so I mean we didn’t know if it was going to come down on the house or not. That would be a bad day,” Scott said.
Scott said he heard a large tree crashing into his front yard and onto a vehicle as the storm moved through.
“It was just loud and we heard a big pop,” Scott said.
He said his family immediately ran to their storm cellar as the severe weather intensified.
“We have a four-day-old baby, so I was happy that everyone was okay,” Scott said.
According to Cherokee County Emergency Management Deputy Director Scott Pettus, the storms caused relatively minimal property damage considering their strength.
“Just give us time and let our folks do what they need to do to restore the infrastructure,” Pettus said.
At the height of the storm, Pettus said approximately 1,800 customers were without electricity. As of Friday evening, that number had dropped to around 125.
Pettus also said all roads within the City of Tahlequah have reopened, but Highway 80 near the Hulbert area remained closed.
“We do this to make sure that our citizens stay safe. We try to get the warning out as quickly as we possibly can,” Pettus said.
City leaders asked residents to place storm debris along the curb, where the streets department will collect it as cleanup continues.
For Scott, the focus was moving forward.
“Just wait for the city to come pick up the stuff. That’s it,” he said.
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