Weekend Storm Damages Homes In Neighborhood Minutes From Riverwind Casino

A neighborhood six minutes from Riverwind Casino in Norman took a direct hit from the storm over the weekend.

One homeowner said it took them two years to build his family’s dream home, but only seconds for the storm to destroy it. The family now has the daunting task of cleaning the debris and re-building. Patrick Stewart recalled the night. He and his wife were home, she was watching the news and Stewart was in the attic checking a water leak only minutes before the storm struck.

“As I walked downstairs, she said it’s here we’re going to the shelter,” said Patrick Stewart, survived storm. “About the time we got to the shelter, it hit. My wife actually felt her hair raise on the back her neck. Shut the door and seemed like it was over as fast as it started.”

Another home about a block from the Stewart’s was destroyed. Chandler Maus described how he and his family rode out the storm in a downstairs hallway closet only wrapped in blankets. Maus said the storm was making a howling noise and he heard the home crumbling. Maus said the storm only lasted a few seconds and when they emerged from the closet their entire roof was gone. The family was thankful to be alive.

“Do you all plan to buy a storm shelter? Definitely, definitely, definitely,” said Chandler Maus, survived storm. “That was on the list of stuff we were going to do eventually, but never got to it.”