The severe weather that hit the Oklahoma City metro Monday night not only produced an EF-1 tornado near Edmond but at one point left 117,000 OGE customers without electrical power.
The power outages forced numerous schools in the Oklahoma City area to cancel classes on Tuesday. Tree branches and trees were toppled by the strong winds that according to News 9 meteorologist David Payne reached nearly 90 miles per hour in the early evening hours.
The winds were strong enough to have toppled the steeple of the Triumph Family Worship Center on SW 44 street. A church member explained the steeple had been installed in 1983.
Oklahoma City firefighters responded to at least five house fires and one structure fire caused by lightning strikes.
Oklahoma City Fire Department reported five house fires and one structure fire due to lightning strikes during the storm. Firefighters also rescued a fisherman who was trapped below the Lake Overholser dam. A life vest was lowered to the man and members of the department’s dive team rappelled down to him. They put him in a harness and hauled him out of the water. He was not injured.
A small tornado that touched down in north Edmond was rated Tuesday as an EF-1 by the National Weather Service. It was around 9 p.m. when the tornado touched down near Seward in Logan County.
The Weather Service indicated it was still gathering data on the storm and said the rating was preliminary and subject to change.