Storm

During the early morning hours of Monday, July 21, 2008, hurricane-force winds ripped through the City of Lawton and surrounding areas. Power went out to much of the city shortly after midnight. Parts of the city were still without power late into the afternoon hours.

No injuries were reported even though the devastation took its toll on the trees and buildings in the community. The photos I have are only a small sampling of the damage that was done. If you have additional photos that you would like to share, please email them to City Hall.

The City of Lawton would like to thank all the volunteers that came in to help with clean-up. Our Fire Department came out in full force, the High School football team was here, several different construction crews came, as well as a TON of individual volunteers. They brought side-dump trucks, pickups, tractors, chain saws, rakes...and anything else they thought might help. One of the most amazing sights to me was seeing entire trees being pulled down the street with a log chain hooked onto a tractor or truck.

These volunteers not only helped the City crew clean up streets, but they also went into people's yards to help clean up. One resident stated she had gone into Sioux City to buy supplies, and when she came back her yard was cleaned up! Another resident was on the phone trying to get a tree service to come out and cut up a tree. When she looked out her window, her yard was full of people and the tree was basically gone. They even raked her lawn.

This was truly volunteerism at its finest!!! We have a lot to be proud of here in Lawton.