CLAREMORE, Okla. — The Salcido family home is just one of countless properties in Claremore that are unrecognizable.
Sarah Salcido said they weren't too worried when the sirens went off. She said they go off regularly in her neighborhood but usually don't amount to much.
"The lights flickered, and that’s when, like, I don’t know, our intuition’s all really kicked in in that moment," said Salcido. "It sounded like a jet."
Salcido, her boyfriend, and her mom darted into a small closet under the staircase.
Salcido and her mom prayed behind the thin closet door. Her mom said the few minutes they were inside the closet felt like hours.
When they walked outside to check in on their home, Salcido couldn't believe they survived. She got emotional and said it was hard to see her childhood home stirred up.
"All the memories that I'm going to have to let go of because I can't see this room again after they tear it down," said Salcido. "We’ve created a lot of memories in this house. There was a lot of birthdays, a lot of memories, a lot of love.”
That house, though, is no longer sturdy enough to be their home.
While it might not look like it from the front of their home, the Salcido's find themselves lucky to have another place to stay.
"Oh my god, I’m so grateful, I’m so grateful that we have that ranch house out there because yeah, we’d be in a hotel right now if we didn’t have that house," she said.
Many residents in Claremore are facing this reality. Amid the chaos, some residents have told 2 News they are looking for hotel rooms to escape their mess but can't find availability close by.
We called five hotels in the area. Four of the five calls didn't go through, with the phone lines still down.
2 News visited three hotels in person.
One said they were just about full and had to turn people away. Another just got their power back and is only a quarter full. A third told us they had about 40 rooms open out of nearly 400.
A desk manager at the Hampton Inn & Suites said it's likely they would be fully booked if their phone line was back up.
If you are looking for a place to stay, we learned your best bet is booking online rather than over the phone.
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