Harrah Residents Begin Recovery After Devastating Tornado

Residents near Harrah are surveying the damage and beginning cleanup after a powerful EF-3 tornado tore through the area early Sunday, leaving a path of destruction along its 20-mile stretch.

Cindy Chartney recalled her experience during the storm, saying she was watching a movie when her son alerted her to turn on the news.

"Actually, I was up watching one of my shows and my son told me I needed to turn it on News 9," she said.

Chartney quickly moved to her storm shelter as the tornado closed in.

"You could feel something was coming ... when I am sitting in there, all I could hear is just 'wooo,' like noise," she recounted.

This wasn’t her first encounter with such a disaster.

"This happened back in 1998," she said.

Chartney sees it as a reminder that her life has a purpose.

"God's not through with us yet ... with me, husband since has passed, but he's not through with me yet, and I know it. This is just a hiccup. We will clean up and we will keep going," she said.

Neighbors are rallying to support each other, embodying the resilient Oklahoma spirit.

"We're just here to help people," said Wesley Dick, who, along with his sister Rilee, ages 10 and 12, joined the recovery efforts. "We've been taking all of the firewood and stacking it," Rilee said.