Emily Swenson and Rocky Campbell tell FOX Weather their harrowing tale of survival of how they had to ride out an EF-3 tornado in their bedroom closet.
CHOCTAW, Okla. – Tornadoes outside of Oklahoma City in early November caused widespread damage but a last-minute race into a closet by newlyweds in Choctaw, Oklahoma possibly saved their lives.
Rocky Campbell and Emily Swenson said they were riding out the severe weather on Nov. 3, but the event was something they hadn’t experienced before.
“I was awake, and my daughter had just laid down when I heard the wind,” said Campbell. “It sounded different than it ever had before—like it was coming through the house. So, I went to wake my daughter up. As I reached her bedroom door, my ears popped. I thought, ‘Man, this is different from anything I’ve experienced before.’ Then glass started breaking, and insulation was swirling around the house.”
Once the family made it safely to the closet, they heard parts of the home disintegrate in the EF-3 twister.
“It was just chaos,” Swenson recounted as the family braced for debris.
OKLAHOMA GRANDMOTHER SURVIVES AFTER EF-3 TORNADO FLIPS OVER HER HOME
The tornado, with winds estimated between 136 and 165 mph, caused such extensive damage that the home was deemed uninhabitable.
Local emergency management said hundreds of other structures suffered the same fate with nearly 300 that were either damaged or destroyed.
According to a survey report from the National Weather Service office in Norman, the tornado was on the ground for nearly 25 miles and was one of more than half a dozen reported throughout the state.
A tornado is assigned a rating from 0 to 5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale to estimate its intensity in terms of damage and destruction caused along the twister’s path.
(FOX Weather)
Meteorologists were able to determine the strength of the tornado by examining damage to homes and trees during the aftermath of the thunderstorm.
Despite the tornadoes occurring during the night when many were sleeping, there were no fatalities from the severe weather.
Local authorities reported at least 11 people were hospitalized, but injuries were considered to be non-life threatening.
Swenson said they stayed with friends until recently, when they found a home to rent in the area.
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FOX Weather Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen speaks with Ryan Milam after his grandmother’s Oklahoma home was flipped over by a nocturnal EF-3 tornado on November 2, 2024.
Similar to their previous house, which was destroyed by the tornado, their new home does not have a designated shelter, but that won’t stop the family from staying safe during the next storm.
“There’s not a robust storm shelter in the home, but we’ll find our safest space in the home, and we’ll listen when the alarms go off and when there are storms headed our way,” Swenson stated.