'This Was The Real Deal': Tornado Devastates Ardmore Neighborhood

In Saturday night’s outbreak, Ardmore was hit by a tornado that ripped through one neighborhood leaving a path of destruction.

Carter County is among the 12 counties declared in a state of emergency by the Governor. The city is still in the dark without power as crews work to repair power lines in the area.

Plainview Estates was hit by the Ardmore tornado just before 10 p.m. Five homes were destroyed and several more have minor damage. But to this community, it’s what happened when the sun came up that matters most.

"I had a feeling, I mean we've had them before, but this was the real deal," Greg Piatt, an Ardmore resident who lost his home, said.

He said the tornado hit hard and fast.

"Within minutes it's over," Piatt said. "You think you're going to have plenty of time and there wasn't plenty of time."

Saturday night's tornado ripped the roof off his home. What was once enclosed, is now open and shows a backdrop of destruction. Piatt’s home was the first hit in Plainview Estates, and the destruction depicts the tornado's path.

"The tornado just came right through here," he said, pointing to the 4 other homes destroyed behind his. "I mean they're just families that are devastated."

But as the sun rose, so did help. Dozens of people came to Piatt and his neighbor's aid. Some were friends and family, some were strangers.

"No, I didn't know anything about them,” Bob Edinger said. He got to Plainview Estates Sunday morning ready to lend a helping hand.

"Came down and I saw all this damage over here and I had to do something," he said.

He spent his entire day uncovering the treasures of someone else’s life, from letters to family photos.

"Photos from their past at least as far back as when they got married," Edinger said.

Left to rebuild, Piatt says it’s teaching them something valuable.

"You got to love people and use things and don't get them confused," he said.

Things can be replaced, people can’t.

"It's really amazing. You get to experience God's blessings," Piatt said. "Someone like Bob who comes in that we don't even know just shows up and our friends texting us all night long."

A community standing together through it all.

No injuries were reported in Ardmore, but the American Red Cross has set up a shelter at the Christ Community Church on Mount Washington Road in Ardmore for anyone displaced by last night’s storm.