21-05-2025
Fort Gibson begins cleanup after Monday's storms
FORT GIBSON — Downed power lines and trees affected business and residential buildings as cleanup began following a possible tornado Monday night.
Muskogee County Commissioner Ken Doke said damage could be seen in a straight line from near downtown toward Cherokee County.
"Two Mile road is closed," Doke said. "County Line Road and along Three Mile Road, at the 1/2-mile mark, there's significant damage. And out to Six Mile Road there are trees down."
Officials at the National Weather Service in Tulsa could not confirm Tuesday morning if the damage was caused by a tornado. They said crews were working from Pittsburg County up to Muskogee County and east to the Arkansas State line to evaluate damage.
Several downtown businesses suffered damage inside and outside. Emergency management officials said no deaths or injuries have been reported.
Granny's Porch on South Lee Street had its roof blown off and water filled some of the building.
Erin Corley, whose grandmother Carol is the owner, has started a GoFundMe site to help her grandmother rebuild and recover.
"We've got significant floor and water damage," Corley said. "The bottom of the shop is concrete and (Carol) lined it with different vintage rugs and all those rugs are soaked. Most of the antiques themselves are filled with water.
"Nothing was broken that we can see, but it's just about getting everything back and cleaning up."
City of Muskogee Emergency Management Director Tyler Evans said most of the damage he's seen, or that has been reported, has been trees and limbs.
Muskogee Fire Department spokesman Scott Puckett said there were two house fires around the 2300 block of Monta Street.
"We had some power lines down and they fell on a house and caused the house to catch fire,' Puckett said. "The house next to it caught fire.'
He said firefighters had to be careful around electrical lines inside the house.
There were no injuries.
Puckett said both houses were occupied at the time but nobody was injured — one house had considerable fire and water damage.
'We had to do some ventilation on the roof and cut a hole,' he said.
Puckett said Muskogee Fire Department responded to 35 emergency calls Monday. They included motor vehicle accidents, downed power lines and one water rescue.
The city of Muskogee will collect storm debris at Hatbox Field, according to a social media post.
"The brush and limb site at Hatbox will be open exclusively for storm debris from May 20 to May 23, operating daily from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.," the post stated. "It will not be open this weekend, due to the holiday, but It will reopen for our regular collection event on June 7."
