Tulsa Mayor Gets First Look At Tornado Damage

The City of Tulsa opened Yale and Sheridan to traffic Monday afternoon, but 41st Street between Yale and Sheridan remains closed.

The City cleared the debris from the streets, but 41st is still busy with repair crews from PSO and workers cleaning up at the businesses there.

Monday was Mayor G.T. Bynum's first look at the damage after an early return from a family vacation. He and a couple of city councilors walked the commercial district along 41st to see it firsthand.

“We are committed, the city council and I, to bringing the full resources of the City to bear on recovering and rebuilding,” Bynum said.

The City deployed police officers to secure the area, and Monday, fire marshals posted no trespassing signs on buildings that can't be locked up.

City inspectors condemned a dozen buildings, mainly in Highland Plaza.

That was reserved for those with the most damage - and more might not be salvageable, but that's up to owners and their insurance companies.

Tulsa Emergency Management determined four businesses were destroyed and 68 have major damage.

8/7/2017 Related Story: 25 Homes, 152 Businesses Impacted By Tulsa Tornado

The City work has transitioned from mostly street cleanup to replacing traffic signals the tornado knocked down.

“The bulk of the work we've been doing is in response to those businesses, trying to get the streets back open and power back on - PSO has been a great partner in that, and we hope to have the traffic signals back on by the end of the week,” Bynum said.

Fences are going up around the businesses Monday night and stores that weren't damaged will be reopening over the next couple of days.