Moore, Okla., a suburb of Oklahoma City, was left devastated and essentially rubble after a tornado pounded its way across the town yesterday afternoon. The area has been declared a major disaster area by President Obama. The death toll, initially cited as 51 and expected to climb to as many as 91 people, with more than 200 injured, was later revised by the Oklahoma chief medical examiner to 24 dead and more than 120 injured, reports NBC News.
As part of the storm damages, there was a significant amount of glass damage.
“We are just extremely busy … there is lots of glass damage. It’s a catastrophe. We’re trying to handle it as well as we can,” says a shop representative of Binswanger in Norman, Okla.
“Our Norman store, just south of the bad damage is getting a lot of business. The stores down there are just inundated with glass work,” says Ginger Strudgeon, also with Binswanger out of Bethany, Okla., about 25 miles from the worst-hit area. Strudgeon explains she is a floater and often works out of the Norman store. “We’re up here 25 miles north and we’re getting lots and lots of calls. This will keep us busy into fall or winter. Both of my boys lost their homes. They were both okay and out of the house. One of our guys here had some damage … he’s taking off tomorrow to deal with it. Oklahoma is good about pulling together. We just really need prayers right now.”
In Oklahoma City, Chezaray Priddy, a representative of City Glass OKC, told USGNN.com/USGlass magazine, “Right now we’re okay. The tornado was late afternoon yesterday, so I expect we will be busy by tomorrow.” Priddy says at this time the focus within the area remains on rescue efforts and after that they will have a better assessment as far as damages.
In Tulsa, about 150 miles from Moore, the area was unscathed, according to Terry Newcomb of Thermal Windows Inc. He says they have a sales office/distribution center in Oklahoma City, about 20 miles from Moore, and it was unharmed.
