Kliewer reflects upon Cordell tornado & response
There are certain days in the life of a community that are never forgotten. For Cordell, Oklahoma, October 9, 2001, is one of those days.
At 5:03 p.m. that Tuesday afternoon, the clock on the Washita County Courthouse stopped as a powerful tornado struck our community. For days afterward, that clock remained frozen at 5:03—a silent reminder of the moment Cordell was changed.
The tornado approached Cordell from the southwest and moved through the south, east and northeast portions of town. As it continued through Cordell, it widened and intensified, damaging homes, businesses and public facilities. Some of the most severe damage occurred in the northeast portion of the community.
By the time the storm had passed, 554 structures had been affected. Of those, 170 were considered uninhabitable. Hundreds of homes were damaged, along with businesses and public buildings. Property losses were ultimately estimated at approximately $100 million.
Those numbers tell us the magnitude of the destruction, but they do not tell the most important part of the story. Nine people were injured, but no lives were lost. Considering the power of the tornado and the amount of destruction it caused, that fact remains remarkable. Warnings gave residents precious time to seek shelter. Families moved to storm shelters, interior rooms and other protected areas. At Day Care Depot, children and adults crowded into a reinforced safe room while the tornado passed. At another daycare, children were moved into an underground storm shelter.
And throughout Cordell, neighbors were looking after neighbors. I remember not only the destruction but the people who immediately went to work helping our community.
Cordell Police Chief Gary Coburn was among those personally affected by the storm—his own home was damaged—yet our police personnel continued carrying out their responsibilities to the community.
Fire Chief Tommy Merrill, along with Cordell’s firefighters and other emergency personnel, went from house to house performing welfare checks and searching for anyone who might need assistance.
City Administrator Bob Lambert took on the responsibilities of incident management while also helping coordinate the city’s response to electric and water problems and working with the many outside emergency agencies arriving to assist Cordell.
Our city employees, police officers, firefighters and other personnel worked under extremely difficult conditions. Many of them were dealing with damage to their own homes or the homes of friends and family while still reporting for duty and helping others.
The response quickly expanded beyond city government.
Churches, volunteers and community organizations stepped forward almost immediately. Kevin Creed helped coordinate the response of our churches and community and later headed the Unmet Needs Committee, which worked to help families whose needs remained long after the immediate emergency had passed.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol provided security assistance, and the Oklahoma National Guard soon arrived in Cordell. The Red Cross and numerous other agencies and volunteers came to help.
But perhaps the greatest response came from the people of Cordell themselves.
People brought food. They cleared debris. They checked on elderly neighbors. They opened their homes. They helped people salvage belongings. Churches organized assistance. Businesses helped wherever they could. Volunteers appeared without being asked.
For a period of time, the normal boundaries between city government, churches, businesses, emergency personnel and individual citizens seemed to disappear.
There was simply Cordell helping Cordell.
The physical scars from the October 9 tornado eventually healed. Homes were repaired and rebuilt. Businesses reopened. Trees were replanted. The debris disappeared.
But those who were here remember.
We remember the sound of the storm.
We remember seeing familiar streets suddenly filled with debris.
We remember homes that had stood for generations damaged or destroyed in a matter of seconds.
And we remember something else—the extraordinary way this community responded.
Twenty-five years later, October 9, 2001, should be remembered not simply as the day an F3 tornado struck Cordell. It should also be remembered as a day when the character of our community was revealed.
Our police department personnel, firefighters, city employees, churches, volunteers, outside emergency responders and countless individual citizens were all part of Cordell’s response.
They were a team—and it was a team that I was, and remain, so very proud to have been a part of.
For days after the storm, the clock on the Washita County Courthouse remained stopped at 5:03 p.m. It became a visible reminder of the moment the tornado changed our community.
Eventually, the clock began to move again.
So did Cordell. We cleaned up. We rebuilt. We helped one another. And we moved forward together.
But for those of us who were here, 5:03 p.m. on October 9, 2001, will always remain a moment frozen in time.
OCT. 2001
OCT. 2001
OCT. 2001