Newkirk, Braman affected by storm

By ADAM CATLIN
[email protected]

Kay County and north-central Oklahoma experienced another rough week of weather when an EF-1 tornado caused damage near Braman, and an EF-4 tornado devastated nearby Enid.
Last Thursday night, the Braman tornado caused property damage, but no injuries, while the Enid tornado injured 10 people. The Enid tornado temporarily shut down nearby Vance Air Force Base.
As April comes to a close, according to the National Weather Service, Oklahoma has already seen 49 tornadoes this year. Oklahoma sees an average of 59 tornadoes per year.
At one point, there were two tornados in the Braman area Thursday evening.
The tornado also affected operating hours of the nearby Rock and Brews Casino north of Braman. They closed early last Thursday evening and did not open again until 4 p.m. on Friday.
Straight-line winds and large hail also caused damage in Newkirk. A tornado warning had been in effect for Kay County in the early part of the evening when the Newkirk Fire Department advised people to take shelter at 7:40 p.m. At 8:13 p.m. the department posted to social media: “Newkirk, it is here. Hold tight and stay in your shelters.”
The storm knocked out power to at least 2,600 people in Kay County late Thursday evening, according to Kay County Electric Cooperative. Power to their customers in the county had been restored by the end of Friday.
Just before 9 p.m. the Newkirk Fire Department gave the all clear for people to come out of their shelters. There were reports after the storm of some street flooding in Newkirk as well as damage to windows downtown. Residents in Newkirk measured up to three inches of rain in their rain gauges. There also were multiple reports of trees down around the city with some streets blocked.
Newkirk Fire Chief Adam Longcrier said electrical crews were out looking at the situation and starting repairs and cautioned that it might take several hours until power is restored inside the city where it was out.
“There are several trees down throughout the city blocking roads,” he added. “Fire department and city crews are working on trying to clear the trees. We also have several areas in and around the city where the roads are flooded. Most dangerously the Pleasant View area behind the football field all the way to Peckham Rd. We’ve already worked one accident at 9th and Pleasant View.”
Longcrier warned residents not to drive through high water as there were several flooded roads in the rural areas.
Before midnight, Longcrier gave an update by saying most power had been restored with crews still working on a power line that is down at Third and Cedar.
“Any trees that are still down will be removed in the daylight,” he added. “There’s still some water that is still over the roads, so please use caution. We are also hearing that there are areas outside the city limits that are impassible.”
Kay County Commissioner for District 1, Shane Jones, posted that there was flash flooding covering both lanes on Pecan from Kildare Road all the way north to Canteen Road. He added that he and his crew were working on getting signs out.
To the north in Arkansas City, Zach Legleiter, who works with Cowley County Emergency Auxiliary, posted this just before 9 p.m. Thursday night.
“Ark City, we dodged the bullet of a lifetime tonight. Had the dry line been a few miles +/- where it was when storms fired, meant the difference between Braman getting a large destructive tornado go through town, instead of Ark City.”
There was no damage reported in Cowley County, according to Cowley County Emergency Management.