Death toll at 6 in Picher tornado; all accounted for

PICHER — Picher residents have spent years dealing with a man-made disaster that took decades to build. They spent Sunday dealing with a natural disaster that took only minutes.

Local people mourned the dead, cared for the injured and sifted the rubble left by the deadliest outbreak of Oklahoma tornadoes since 1999.

Six people were killed Saturday by the deadliest outbreak of Oklahoma tornadoes since 1999.

"All that we have been through, the buyouts, fights with the EPA, the ice storm, I don't know if we can take any more," said John Sparkman, Picher Housing Authority director.

Gov. Brad Henry toured the damage area by air and by ground on Sunday, a tour taken many times before by officials surveying damage left from decades of lead an zinc mining. Henry said the tornado damage is widespread, cutting a wide swath through Ottawa County, including Picher, Peoria and Quapah. The damage is sometimes a half-mile wide, he said.

Henry declared a state of emergency in Ottawa County late Saturday night and is still looking into the situation in other counties, he said. The state of emergency is the first step in requesting federal disaster aid. Henry said he expected to speak with President Bush later Sunday.

State and federal officials are expected to begin damage assessments today.

"We will get through this pulling together and working together as Oklahomans, making sure our neighbors have what they need," Henry said. "We will overcome this adversity just like we always do."

Picher Fire Chief Jeff Reeves said Sunday afternoon that all residents had been accounted for. The search and rescue phase had converted to a cleanup operation. The town still was without power Sunday evening.

Fatalities described

The bodies of three of four people who were in a car were found near a three-acre sewer lagoon, said Michelann Ooten, spokeswoman for the state Emergency Management Department.

One male's body was found in a tree, another male's body was found in the lagoon and a female's body was found deep in the lagoon.

The fourth person in the car, a 13-year-old girl, survived.

Also, the bodies of two adult females were found on the west side of town near their residences, Ooten said.

The final victim, a mother, was found dead a block from her home. Her husband and an infant survived.

Names of the victims have not been released. But one of the adult women found near her residence was Linda Mathis, 48, said her daughter Angela Bertie, 28.�Bertie said she found her mother dead on the street on Saturday night while searching for victims.

At least 150 people — from scratches to more serious problems — were injured, Ooten said.

More than 30 people were taken to Integris Baptist Hospital in nearby Miami, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. George Brown said. Of those, more than 20 were treated and released.

Until Saturday, tornadoes in Oklahoma had killed only three people since 1999, when a May 3 outbreak killed 44 people, according to the weather service.

Two people died at Elmwood in Beaver County last year when their home and shed were totally destroyed by a March 28 tornado. In April 2001, a 41-year-iold man was killed at Coalgate in Coal County when his double-wide trailer was destroyed.

The same storm system that ravaged Picher killed at least 14 in southwest Missouri. Ten of the dead were killed when a twister struck near Seneca, about 20 miles southeast of Picher and near the Oklahoma border.

Tornado rated an EF-4

The National Weather Service in Tulsa said Sunday night that based on structural damage in the area, the Picher tornado was rated an EF-4 with winds estimated at 165 to 175 mph.

The tornado tracked across the northern edge of Quapaw, then crossed Interstate 44 at mile marker 325 and finally moved into Missouri three miles north of Peoria.

The tornado tracked about 29 miles in Oklahoma with a maximum width of one mile.

The Tulsa office, through field inspections, confirmed four other tornadoes in Oklahoma on Saturday.

- One briefly touched down about three miles north of Crowder in Pittsburg County at Lake Eufaula, but did not damage and will be an EF-0.

- Another tornado hit seven miles southwest of Hartshorn in Pittsburg County and was rated an EF-2 with wind speeds of 110 to 120 mph. Maximum width was 150 yards.

- An EF-2 tornado touched down four miles west-northwest of Haywood in Pittsburg County and lifted six miles east-northeast of Haywood. The tornado tracked 10 miles and was 200 yards at its widest point.

- Latimer County also saw a tornado, the weather service said. That twister is yet to be rated.

Picher damage extensive

The scene Saturday night was a frantic search and rescue.

"We could see the fingers of this lady down in the ruble just sticking out," said Ed Keheley, 65, who helped rescue a woman unhurt from a bathtub buried in debris. "People were just wandering up and down the streets. Some had blood on them, some were dazed."

Picher is a former lead and zinc mining community that is now the center of the Tar Creek Superfund site. The town's population has dwindled from a peak of roughly 20,000 to about 800 people.

A federally funded buyout is underway to relocate residents from the Tar Creek area, which became one of the worst environmental disaster areas in the country because of pollution from the mining.

Most of the brick homes in the south side of the Picher Housing Authority were flattened, leaving piles of brick and tin wrapped around trees.

Most of the houses were vacant because they were sitting in an area classified by a federal study likely to cave in, he said.

Only residents of the area were being admitted to the disaster area, Brown said.

The National Weather Service sent out a tornado warning at 5:26 p.m., 13 minutes before the tornado hit Picher, said David Jankowski, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Tulsa. Tornado sirens warned residents to take shelter.Several residents reported they did not get any warning, Brown and Ooten said.Frank Geasland, Ottawa County's emergency manager, said evidence of storm damage could be seen in a 15-mile path through the county.