Over the weekend, Cordell faced a severe thunderstorm that affected many of its residents and left some with a messy yard and others without power.
In the very early morning of Saturday, June 26, Cordell was hit with a severe thunderstorm with wind gusts reported to be 77 mph at 1:45 a.m. according to the Clinton automated surface observing system.
Beth Groves Meyer, a resident of Cordell, decided to film the storm from her garage to post on Facebook.
“When the storm hit, it woke my son and I up straight out of bed,” Meyer said. “I’ve never seen the wind blow so hard and horizontal like that. It looked like it was coming straight out of the north.”
Meyer also said that some of the people she knows had significant damage to their barns and trees, but she had no damage to report on her home.
Residents around Cordell were left with tree branches scattered across their yard ranging in various sizes.
One Cordell resident, Katie Kastner, was surprised when she heard a loud crash from outside in her yard.
“I thought my patio furniture was blowing away. I was surprised to see my pecan tree was laying on my fence,” she said.
Kastner was assisted by two other Cordell residents, Gil Bloomer and Curtis Walters, who arrived at her home with a chainsaw, ready to help.
“I’m very thankful for both of them,” Kastner said. “I’m lucky to have neighbors that look out for one another.”
PHOTO BY KATIE KASTNER
Bloomer, who is the owner of Cut Throat Jig Company, took it upon himself to help out residents after the storm by posting on Facebook saying, “If you have large tree branches in your yard from last nights storm and need help cutting them up into more manageable pieces I’m free to do so… No charge, simply [doing] what I can to help.”
Bloomer said he saw this act as something he was supposed to be doing, seeing as how he had the ability to help others.
“I’ve been blessed for my company being successful. I believe in remaining humble,” he said. “If I know people need help I do what I can.”
That morning, Bloomer said he assisted three people in the span of a few hours.
“I was born and raised here in western Oklahoma. It’s just what you’re supposed to do,” Bloomer said.
However, Bloomer was not the only one helping that day, as many residents had reported a loss of power throughout parts of the town that day.
Cordell’s city workers worked through the day repairing power lines to restore electricity for residents.
Not only that, but the City of Cordell has planned to pick up any fallen tree limbs from the storms on Tuesday, July 6.
The city has asked that residents please cut the limbs down to a length “no larger than what will fit in a dump truck” and is asking that limbs be placed in a stack at front curbs.
This effort will be done all in one day as the city workers plan to make just one pass throughout the town only.
Throughout all of this, one thing seemed to be apparent after the storm.
Cordell residents were very thankful for their public city workers as many took to Facebook to express their gratitude for them.
“I know we are all very thankful for the guys with the city working on the electricity and I know they are very exhausted,” Meyers said.