Brief tornado in Oklahoma downed power lines, trees

    OKMULGEE COUNTY, Oklahoma (KJRH) -- The National Weather Service reports a "brief tornado" developed in Okmulgee County during the storms that moved through the county overnight March 29 and into the early morning hours on March 30.

Crews and people in Okmulgee County got a better sense of storm damage after the sun came up.

2 News Oklahoma’s Douglas Braff asked authorities where cleanup efforts stand and listened to residents about the damage.

“The wind was definitely blowing, and we had some damage and debris going there,” Jeffrey Moore, the Okmulgee County Emergency Management director, told 2 News.

Those high winds knocked down power lines north of Morris early Sunday morning, leaving 40 to 50 residents without power. That’s according to Moore, who told us crews quickly responded.

He said most of those power lines were fixed or replaced by midday.

But Moore noted the storm left quite the path, saying, “It extends all the way up north to Bald Hill Road, where we have two more power lines down a roof came off a barn, and there’s damage for about a good damage path up there for about a mile to 2 miles and maybe a half-mile wide.”

“It’s not good, for sure,” Lee Phillips told 2 News.

Phillips manages a farm along Bald Hill Road, north of Morris. The wind blew away the back half of his barn, scattering the roof all along the road, also saying, “Some of it’s 100 yards that way over the hill.”

While a handful of horses saw minor injuries, he said only the barn was damaged and that it’s not a total loss. He spent his Sunday clearing pieces of tin roof.

When asked if it’s going to take much to clean up, Phillips replied, “It’ll take a little bit, take a couple days probably to get everything cleaned up and get somebody to repair the barn.”