Broken Arrow Tornado Followed Same Path As Similar One 37 Years Prior

The May 20 Moore tornado showed us that Mother Nature is prone to repeat herself. Thursday night's tornado in Broken Arrow is yet another example. Thirty-seven years ago, a similar tornado hit the same spot in the city.

"Oh, in '76 it went right down 198th, all the way," said John White.

He lives in Coweta now, but in May 1976, he had just closed on a home near 198th East Ave and 91st Street.

Flash forward to Thursday, May 30, 2013, and that's right in the area where an EF-2 tornado touched down and uprooted lives.

"Always heard a tornado won't hit the same place twice, but I think Mother Nature has proved differently," White said.

5/31/2013 Related Story: Broken Arrow Couple Ride Out Tornado In Closet

He's talking about May 30, 1976, when an F-2 tornado hit this same spot. It was a three-mile long tornado, and White remembers the damage was very similar to what we saw after Thursday's storm.

"The people to the south of us, the north end of their attic was blown out, but the house was livable, and our house had very minor damage," White said. "But every other house on the block - it was a long block - they couldn't live in the houses."

Back in '76, it took a little longer for the word to get out, and White said it took several months to rebuild.

His advice for those caught in this week's tornado is to just keep working hard and know Oklahomans have your back.

"Just like people in Moore say, 'We're Oklahomans. Rebuild.'"

Just like Thursday night's storm in Broken Arrow, no one was seriously injured or killed during the monster tornado in 1976.