 KTUL-8 posted this pic of the snake Creek Marinas, in their exhaustive coverage. | The national weather service and the Severe Storms forecast center; along with the major Oklahoma media outlets; all predicted this event with precision about 48 hours in advance. The unusual gulf moisture surge of Thursday & Friday, were pushed off by the gulf stream of the southern plains. That's a scenario we usually see in the spring tornado season. It was state championship night in eastern Oklahoma. The big schools were playing in the Tulsa area (TU stadium, Sapulpa, & Bixby) But they all stopped play and cleared the stadiums as the gust front & lightning assaulted the bleachers and field of play. But further to the southeast, McAlester saw the first formations of a 'super cell' which feeds on itself and creates the largest twisters. Most Okies never really saw the monster bearing down on them. It was generally a 'rain-wrapped' occurrence in the dark of night. Fortunately, the rural hospitals and clinics had very few trauma patients associated with the massive storms. |
| The eastern shoreline of Lake Tenkiller was the center of the potential 'killing zone' when the super cell reached critical mass and assaulted the terrain. of the lakeshore. But this twister remained 'glued' to the ground like a magnet for nearly the next 2 hours, and moved methodically to the northwest over the Ozark foothills and the oak forest landscapes. It wasn't until over 60 miles of destruction were accomplished, that this atmospheric monster withdrew her broad sword from the gut of east central Oklahoma. The damages will now be tallied. Many of the homes destroyed were retirement residencies by middle income Oklahomans who saved all their lives to buy a little plot of land and a mobile home. Many others were citizens who make their modest living in the services & retail industries which seek to meet the needs of the weekend visitors of the lakes. But many of those who sustained damages were the city dwellers who make their living in the urban centers, so they can unwind on weekends in their lake craft marine lifestyles. The lakes now have untold underwater 'junkyards' of boats, sheet metal. dockage, and fishing equipment. It may never be largely recovered, but it will make for some interesting salvage excursions for scuba divers who decide to endanger themselves in it's depths. |  McAlester experienced the spawning of this super cell, but Lakes Eufaula & Tenkiller took the worst damages. |
Below is a satellite image of the Snake Creek marina area, before this weekend's destruction (as seen in the photo above).
