Great-Grandmother Killed In Mayes County Tornado

Craig Day, News On 6

MAYES COUNTY, Oklahoma -- For the second night in a row, severe weather caused power outages, downed trees and rattled nerves in Green County.

A tornado also destroyed a home near Locust Grove, killing a great-grandmother who was in bed when the storm hit.

There is very little left of Beverly Reed's home. It's hard to even tell it was once a house, except for a few belongings, the battered furnishings, and some ruined family heirlooms.

Relatives say this is where the glue to the family lived and where she died.

"I just hope and pray she didn't know what happened," Nancy Armstrong said.

Reed, 82, was asleep when the sudden storm picked up her home, tossed it 50 yards, and shattered it to pieces. Reed's body was found in the debris.

"She was ready to go; she's up there with my dad, so she's happy again," Tammy Fisher, Reed's daughter, said.

Reed was a grandmother of 26, a great grandmother of 15, a woman who loved church and crossword puzzles, but most of all her family.

Craig Day, News On 6: "What will you miss most about her?"
Tammy Fisher, Victim's Daughter: "Her calling me. Her cards. She would send cards to me all the time, and write little names on them."

Family members say the loss hurts, but is made better knowing Reed was a woman of faith.

"God had a plan. And it was her time. He took her," Fisher said.

Strong winds also hit Reeds' son and daughter in law's home nearby. Nancy Armstrong ended up with a desk, dresser and part of her bed on top of her.

"I thought oh God! I have to get out of here," Armstrong said.

She was left dazed, bleeding, and scared, but alive.

"I just didn't know what had happened," she said.

Armstrong says it's amazing how quickly the storm hit, and how much power it packed.

Family and friends are looking for anything that can be saved, but are doing it with heavy hearts because of what was lost.

"We'll get through it, that's all we can do. That's what she would want us to do," Fisher said.

A National Weather Service team determined the damage was caused by an EF-2 tornado with winds of 120 to 130 miles per hour.