Resident speaks out in the aftermath of Oklahoma tornado

WICHITA FALLS ( KFDX/KJTL ) — As storms rolled into Oklahoma last night, a large tornado hit around Duke, Oklahoma, near Altus. The tornado damaged houses and downed power lines.

Esperanza, who moved from California with dreams of a peaceful life, was one of the homeowners who fell victim.

She said when the storm first hit, she was in the kitchen, but when the roof was lifted from her home, her husband pushed her into another room for cover as windows began to shatter.

“People told me you can start again, but how? How, tell me. Look around, how?” she gestured around the remains of her home with tears in her voice. “And now I don’t have a car, I don’t have anything. Well, I have my life but what am I supposed to do?”

Esperanza and her husband built their home together from the ground up, and she says that losing it feels like she lost everything.

“We put in every piece of wood you saw, me and him only. When you see the walls, me and him only, so tell me, what can I do right now?” she said. “I know people tell me it’s fine because you’re alive, you’re not dead, yes, but it’s hard to start again.”

The tornado, which the National Weather Service estimates to be at least an EF-2, started at 7:04 p.m. and ended at 7:57 p.m. on May 23.

As local authorities and emergency services actively work to restore damages, they also have to prepare for more potentially severe weather on Friday evening.

You can stay up to date on possible severe weather with Texoma’s Weather Authority .

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