FOX Weather’s Katie Byrne reports from Holdenville, Oklahoma, a community reeling after a tornado struck Saturday, killing a baby and a man. Flooding rains following the twister left the ground soaked and will delay burying the victims.
HOLDENVILLE, Okla. – An Oklahoma community still in shock after a tornado killed two people as it tore through their town must wait to lay the victims to rest because of the flooding rain that followed, making the ground too wet for burials.
FOX Weather’s Katie Byrne talked to Anthony Wood from a funeral home in Holdenville that is planning both funerals. He came to the site of victim Jimmy Johnson’s home, or where it used to be, to talk to the man’s uncle about funeral arrangements, saying the services had to be delayed.
Drone video over what used to be Jimmy Johnson’s home before a tornado picked it up and tossed it, killing Johnson.
(FOX Weather)
“I’ve come out here to check out the lay of the land, see what we got to do as far as coming out here for interment for one of the ones that passed away,” Wood said. “Looks like somebody set a bomb off. This used to be a trailer house, and they had cars, everything here. And we got one car way back here in the back about 200 yards.”
The lot looked more like a grassy field littered with a refrigerator, a washing machine, a microwave, kids’ bikes, what may have been a roof and other building materials that used to make up a home. Byrne said confused dog and cats were still roaming the property looking for Johnson, the 35-year-old man who used to live there.
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Johnson’s dog getting a little shade where a home used to be.
(Katie Byrne / FOX Weather)
The uncle told Byrne that Johnson died using his body as a shield to protect his 13-year-old niece and 20-year-old nephew who were with him. The EF-3 tornado, he said, literally picked up the house off its foundation and tossed it. The niece and nephew are both recovering at a hospital.
A baby girl, who lived in a home 4 miles away, also died.
“The fire chief tells me her parents put her in a car seat, and they were getting ready to evacuate when they realized it was too late, and they had to take cover at home,” Byrne reported.
The family sheltered in a closet, but the tornado picked up the home with everyone inside and threw it about 200 yards. Rescue crews searched through the night for the 4-month-old infant. The chief said the first responders found her body almost a mile away. The baby’s parents are recovering at a hospital.
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While Byrne was reporting live, another one of Johnson’s family members arrived to assess the wreckage.
“Just to see what everything looked like,” Byrne said. “And to see it in person for the family members and watch them as they’re emotionally taking all of this in and realizing what their brother, their son, their nephew may have gone through that night is so heartbreaking.”
Officials are urging everyone to get tetanus shots because of all the exposed nails and sharp debris. A laundromat in town offered to wash survivors’ clothes for free.