A Brookdale Senior Living community in Oklahoma suffered “significant damage” from one of more than a dozen tornados fueled by severe storms across three states Wednesday night.
The 33 residents of Brookdale Shawnee were evacuated after the building’s windows were blown out and water seeped inside. Executive Director Shelee Stewart told Koco News that staff members helped guide assisted living residents into bathrooms until the storm passed. Some had minor scratches, but no major injuries were reported.
Due to the damage, residents either went home with loved ones or were evacuated to other Brookdale communities, according to the company. Phone calls to Brookdale Shawnee have been rerouted to Brookdale Ada, one of the host communities, about an hour away.
“We are extremely grateful there were no major injuries for the residents and staff in the community during the storm,” a statement posted on Brookdale’s website Thursday morning read. “As always, our primary goal is to help ensure the ongoing safety of our residents and associates. Our teams, along with support from our district and corporate levels, are monitoring the situation and are focused on supporting residents and associates in their temporary accommodations.”
Later in the day on Thursday, Brookdale said that the company was still assessing the full extent of property damage and outages in the area around Brookdale Shawnee. Power outages were widespread, according to the Shawnee News-Star.
“Once the community can be fully assessed, we will implement a plan for construction to repair damages,” Brookdale said. “Until then, residents will remain in their temporary accommodations.”
Residents and staff members “are reported to be doing well at their temporary accommodations,” the company said.
The community’s roof was damaged, and the front of the building “was completely blown away,” according to Koco News. Residents sat in chairs outside of the community as crews assessed the damage on Wednesday. Employees were called in to help find housing for the residents unable to return to the community.
At least three people reportedly were killed by severe storms that swept across Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa on Wednesday. The same system was moving from Texas to Wisconsin on Thursday.
The Shawnee News-Star reported Thursday that 1,800 structures in the Shawnee area were affected in some way, with 190 structures sustaining “major damage” and 26 “completely destroyed.”
