WATONGA – Officials with the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management team responded to Seminole County last week to help clean up the city after a tornado ripped through.
The tornado struck on Wednesday evening, May 3, and caused extensive damage to city structures. Thankfully, no fatalities or major injuries were reported.
Blaine County emergency manager Jim Shelton told the county commissioners about their trip on Monday.
“(Blaine County Sheriff) Travis (Daugherty) got a request from the sheriff at Seminole to come assist and do some initial search and rescue,” Shelton explained. “So he called me and rounded up a trailer. We took four-wheelers … and helped in the initial search.
“We checked in with the IC (incident command) there and were given out assignments to search specific areas for anybody that was trapped or endangered or anything. It was quite an experience. It was good, but I wouldn’t want to be down there right now working on all the cleanup, and all that.”
The EF2 multi-vortex tornado, nearly a mile wide, passed over Seminole just before 7 p.m. Wednesday. Seminole Middle School and The Academy of Seminole charter school were among the structures damaged, along with homes and businesses throughout the town of about 7,000 people.
Cleanup efforts are ongoing.