Oklahoma Seeks Assistance Following Deadly April Storms

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Oklahoma’s request for federal assistance to individuals and businesses affected by an April 15 tornado that killed six in Woodward was denied but the governor is continuing with her quest for help from the U.S. government.

Gov. Mary Fallin’s office says she has asked the U.S. Small Business Administration for a disaster declaration for Woodward County.

Fallin had previously declared a State of Emergency for 12 Oklahoma counties due to tornadoes, severe storms, straight line winds and flooding that began on April 13.

The counties included in the declaration are: Alfalfa, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Ellis, Harper, Jackson, Kiowa, Logan, Oklahoma, Woods and Woodward.

The early morning tornado in Woodward on April 15 left three girls 10 and younger and three men dead. Preliminary damage assessments found the storm affected 224 homes and businesses in the county. Of those, 73 were destroyed, 22 had major damage and 21 had minor damage.

An SBA disaster declaration would provide for low interest disaster loans for renters, homeowners and business owners to repair or replace property damaged by the severe weather if it is not covered by insurance or other assistance programs.

Forecasters say about 75 tornadoes touched down in four Great Plains states during the outbreak of severe storms that swept the Midwest in mid-April.

Greg Carbin, a meteorologist at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said that most of the tornadoes were in Kansas, followed by Oklahoma, Iowa and Nebraska. Many tornadoes hit in unpopulated rural areas in Kansas and Oklahoma.

In and around Woodward, the high winds damaged homes, toppled trees and downed power lines. Woodward is about 140 miles northwest of Oklahoma City. The brunt of the damage was reported on the west side of the town of about 12,000 and its outskirts.

In addition to tornadoes, lightning, large hail and heavy downpours accompanied the system, which was so large that it posed a severe weather threat from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan in the north to eastern Texas and Louisiana hundreds of miles to the south.