PAWNEE, Okla — The city of Pawnee is recovering from storm damage that hit earlier this week.
2News spoke with community members who are still working on cleanup.
Linda Jestes sustained some major property damage when the storm came through, including the loss of the end of a barn and one of her sheds.
Part of the farm fence was also taken out, letting her barn animals out, but luckily they all came back and gathered together.
Some of the family vehicles were also damaged.
"We thought it was going to Osage County," she said. "As we sat there and watched TV, the rain became more intense and I'd seen the tree limbs blowing."
Linda said the winds were so strong she thought they were experiencing a tornado, so they went into a closet.
"The floor was shaking," said Jestes.
Her daughter-in-law Beverly Jestes said there was no warning for the storm.
"We thought it was going the other way," said Linda.
While Beverly was at a conference in Oklahoma City, her family's pecan grove sustained tree damage.
"Any time we have a threat, we have ample warning," said Beverly.
She said this time was different.
"We didn't have that warning," she said. "People were driving in it."
Across town, Kellie Bryant and her daughter Kate Sherrill are also dealing with cleanup of their own.
"This was tragic for our community," said Kellie.
Still, she said they are getting through it because of the community helping each other.
"The next morning, we had crews of people here with chainsaws and trucks and tractors," she said.
The major issue Kellie suffered was tree damage, with neighbors saying trees had blown all the way across their driveway into the highway.
"They always say we are Pawnee strong, so I totally believe that," said Kellie. "I have a friend and her and her husband opened up Pawnee Power and they served tea drinks to the First Responders until 4AM."
She said having the community band together to help has made the journey much easier.
"Everyone has chipped in and done anything that they could, whether it be donating something or helping with labor, or donating equipment."
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