Small tornado hits Scheurers
A startling introduction to twister season was provided George Jr. and Alice Scheurer Thursday evening, March 27.
They were watching television at 5:55 p.m. in their home half a mile east of Eleventh and Laing when they heard a “popping sound” and then plaster fell down on Scheurer where he was sitting in his easy chair next to the east wall.
The electricity went off, but they could see a piece of metal sticking down through the ceiling just over where he had been sitting.
About that time Sammy Tomlinson drove up from the fairgrounds soccer fields, where he and others at the soccer fields had seen tin fly up from the Scheurer property. Tomlinson said some of the children said they had seen a funnel just before. He said he had only seen an area of circularity in the blue sky that was “just white” and then had seen the tin go up in the air as the white funnel touched down for around five seconds.
The Scheurers still hadn’t determined that they had been visited by a tornado until Tomlinson came to the door and told them what he had seen.
The tin was from a barn just southwest of the Scheurer home. The small funnel tore off the roof and two sides of the barn and strung them across the yard and then on the road and into a wheat field owned by J.L. and Doris Matli.
It also speared a section of well pipe that had been in the barn about five feet into the ground just a few feet north of the house. The object sticking down through the ceiling turned out to be a piece of metal about 2 ½ feet in length.
The tin sheeting and other debris was blocking the road, so Tomlinson and another man helped clear it off
Ṫhe electrical outage affected other residents down the road, but Cimarron Electric employees arrived quickly to repair the lines.
The Scheurers said they have lived in their home just northeast of town for 31 ½ years and had never had any tornado damage before.
Referring to his close call while he had been unsuspectingly watching television, Scheurer said, “Don’t you think I’ve been living right?”
They said they had watched the weather report but it had only mentioned possible storms in the Oklahoma City area and also north of here.
The front here brought only gusts of wind and a light trace of rain – besides the isolated tornado.
Among those on hand shortly after the tornadic activity was local insurance agent Howard Hursh, who had written the Scheurers’ property damage coverage.