Oklahoma Families Escape Tragedy After EF-3 Tornado Hits SE OKC Neighborhood

Oklahoma County crews were still assessing the tornado damage left behind in the metro Monday night.

One of the harder-hit areas is in southeast Oklahoma City. Numerous homes were destroyed overnight Saturday when an EF3 tornado tore through a neighborhood near Southeast 89th Street and Sooner Road. The storm woke up John and Caryl Prati.

“I felt the wind and heard things hitting the house,” said John.

The wind came from a busted-out window as the storm passed over his home. “There was a carport where the car is parked and there was a patio in back; those are both gone,” he said.

Caryl said the patio cover is in a twisted-up ball in her backyard among other things. “This gray device over here is the chimney, I think for that backdoor neighbor,” she said pointing to her neighbor’s house.

The couple says they were spared several times in the past when larger tornadoes hit the area and are used to helping others in times like these. “It's hard to be on the other side but yeah, you have to learn to receive as well as give,” Caryl said.

This time they were lucky their house was intact but damaged. The Cron family was not so lucky. “Look at your bed baby,” said Mark Cron to his seven-year-old daughter Isabelle.

Isabelle’s room was completely exposed, and debris was dumped all over her bed. The family returned to their home on Monday to try and salvage what they could.

“Oh my God,” Mark said looking at the living room flooded with rainwater and littered with insulation and other debris. The roof had been blown off, walls caved in, blinds wrapped around wires and his children’s bedrooms destroyed where his children usually sleep.

“It is so abnormal for me not to have them in their beds, and had any of them been in their beds, we'd be having a different conversation,” he said. 

Isabelle and her brother, nine-year-old Isaiah were asleep in the living room. The youngest, Isaac, six, was in bed with Mark, who reacted seconds after the storm hit. “When I heard the glass shattering, I pulled him off the bed and shoved him underneath,” Mark said.

Then he said he worked his way to the living room. “I didn't know if they were there,” he said choked up. “I'm sorry.” 

His son and daughter were alive but surrounded by debris. Isabelle was hit in the head and knocked off the couch. “There was so much debris, I just started throwing stuff,” Cron said. “I had to get to her.” 

Once he got his children to safety, he searched for his parents, who were initially trapped in their bedroom. “It was just really scary,” said Carey Lindsey, Mark Cron’s mother. “I just wanted to get to the grandkids and my son.”

Everyone made it out, returning to find what little they could. “I just found my Squishmallow,” Isabelle said, grabbing a soaked stuffed animal. Isaac found his special blue dog toy.

However, the family is more thankful to have each other. “I don't even think it's hit me, but I’m just grateful that my grandkids are okay and my son and my husband because it could have been really bad,” Lindsey said.

Isabelle was treated and released at the hospital, suffering only bumps and bruises. The family has a GoFundMe set up if you would like to help: Fundraiser by Tim Cron: Help the Cron Family Rebuild After Tornado