An empty grain silo was lifted and either rolled or tossed 100 yards across a field on Sunday when an EF1 tornado with 100 mph winds ripped through the small community of Keyes, Oklahoma, KVII reported. The twister touched down at 11:03 p.m. near the intersection of Phillips Avenue and Ramsey Blvd, leaving widespread structural damage in its wake.
Most of the destruction centered around Polk Street, where an old pool hall collapsed under the severe winds. The same storm system lifted the roof clean off a building across the street, while the local community center lost an exterior wall alongside minor roof damage.
Community Cleanup and Relocated Polling Site
Residents and local leaders spent hours Monday sorting through debris and preparing for incoming weather. Henry Dyck, a local resident, spent his Monday trying to secure equipment before the next round of rain arrived.
“We’re getting everything out of here. Not going to get it all out today because it’s supposed to rain again. We are going to get out as much as we can. I’m just going to tear it down … there’s a bunch of the irrigation motors that I don’t want them out in the weather there. I mean, now I got to find me, you know, I don’t know, a building or something to put them in,” Dyck said.
Cimarron County District 3 Commissioner Bron Gardner noted the shock of seeing destructive severe weather hit the local area directly.
“Wow, I didn’t think I’d ever see it here. You know, it’s always somebody else. But I guess it was just our turn,” Gardner said.
Local and county agencies mobilized equipment to clear blocked roads and work toward power restoration. Gardner stated that while the cleanup process will take time due to the tangled nature of the wreckage, county resources are adequate to handle the workload.
“It’s going to take a while to clean this debris up. It’s all wadded up. And anybody knows that’s been through this, it’s, it’s, it’s a process … We have more than enough equipment to, to handle this. So that’s a blessing,” Gardner said.
Dyck also pointed to community resilience during the morning cleanup efforts, noting that neighbors arrived early to help clear the wreckage.
Because structural damage rendered the Keyes Community Center unusable, local election officials moved the designated polling site for Tuesday’s midterm election directly to City Hall.
TIMELINE: Powerful storms with risk of tornadoes, 100 mph winds possible Sunday in Oklahoma
