Oklahoma families escape tragedy after EF-3 tornado hits southeast OKC neighborhood

Oklahoma County crews were still assessing damage to the metro caused by the tornado Monday evening.

One of the hardest hit areas is southeast Oklahoma City. Overnight Saturday, numerous homes were destroyed as an EF3 tornado ripped through a neighborhood near Southeast 89th Street and Sooner Road. The storm woke up John and Caryl Prati.

“I felt the wind and heard things hitting the house,” John said.

The wind came from a broken window as the storm passed over his house. “There was a carport where the car was parked and behind it there was a terrace; “They’re both gone,” he said.

Among other things, Caryl said the patio cover in her backyard was rolled up. “This gray unit here is the chimney, I think, for the back door neighbor,” she said, pointing to her neighbor’s house.

The couple says they have been spared several times in the past when major tornadoes hit the area and are used to helping others in times like these. “It's hard to be on the other side, but yeah, you have to learn to both receive and give,” Caryl said.

This time they were lucky that their house was intact but damaged. The Cron family wasn't so lucky. “Look at your bed, baby,” Mark Cron said to his seven-year-old daughter Isabelle.

Isabelle's room was completely exposed and there was debris all over her bed. The family returned home Monday to try to salvage what they could.

“Oh my God,” Mark said, looking at the living room, which was flooded with rainwater and littered with insulation and other trash. The roof was blown off, walls collapsed, blinds wrapped around wires and the bedrooms where his children usually sleep were destroyed.

“It's so unusual for me not to have them in their beds, and if either of them had been in their beds we would have had a different conversation,” he said.

Isabelle and her brother, nine-year-old Isaiah, were sleeping in the living room. The youngest, Isaac, six, was in bed with Mark, who responded seconds after the storm. “When I heard the glass break, I pulled him off the bed and shoved him under it,” Mark said.

Then he said he made his way to the living room. “I didn’t know if they were there,” he said, choked up. “I'm sorry.”

His son and daughter were alive but surrounded by rubble. Isabelle was hit in the head and thrown off the couch. “There was so much debris that I just started throwing stuff,” Cron said. “I had to get to her.”

After getting his children to safety, he looked for his parents, who were initially trapped in their bedroom. “It was just really scary,” said Carey Lindsey, Mark Cron’s mother. “I just wanted to come see my grandchildren and my son.”

Everyone made it out and returned to find what little they could. “I just found my Squishmallow,” Isabelle said, grabbing a soaked stuffed animal. Isaac found his special blue dog toy.

However, the family is more grateful that they have each other. “I don't even think it hit me, but I'm just thankful that my grandkids and my son and my husband are OK because it could have been really bad,” Lindsey said.

Isabelle was treated and released from hospital. She only suffered bumps and bruises. The family has set up a GoFundMe if you would like to help: Tim Cron Fundraiser: Help the Cron Family Rebuild After the Tornado