July 25--Several medical facilities were damaged in a storm early Wednesday, including an assisted living center that transported more than 100 patients after losing power and a university building that had part of its roof torn off.
Emeritus at Tulsa, 5211 S. Lewis Ave., and the Tulsa Fire Department began evacuating residents of the three-story assisted living center before 7 a.m., said Mike Lowe, the facility's communication relations director.
"Our whole focus is to make sure they're safe," Lowe said.
Residents were moved to Emeritus at Cedar Ridge, 10107 S. Garnett Road, in two 12-passenger buses.
"We're going to party out there today," he joked.
About a dozen firefighters were called in to assist with moving physically handicapped residents and those who live on the facility's second and third floors, said Michael Baker, director of emergency medical services for the Tulsa Fire Department.
The department transported cooling equipment -- generally used for rehabilitating responders at fire scenes when needed -- to the center for the remaining residents awaiting transport.
"We want to keep them from becoming hospital patients (due to heat-related medical issues)," Baker said.
An EMSA supervisor was also on scene to assist with coordinating the move and evaluating residents if needed.
Lowe said the American Electric Power-Public Service Company of Oklahoma was unable to provide management with an estimated repair time.
He said it was the first time in the complex's 14 years that residents had to be moved due to a power outage.
Other facilities affected were the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, 1111 W. 17th St.; Saint Francis Hospital and Saint Francis Hospital South; Oklahoma State University Medical Center; and area Utica Park clinics.
Part of the roof of the forensics building at OSU's Center for Health Sciences was blown off during the overnight storms, affecting the state Medical Examiner's Tulsa office and the Tulsa Police Department's property room.
Spokeswoman Amy Elliott with the ME's office said they were still conducting business despite the outage thanks to two large power generators connected to the office's storage cooler and morgue.
"They are huge, and we are monitoring them 24 hours a day," Elliott said.
The office's phone system was down due to the outage, but calls to investigators were routed through and assigned from the Oklahoma City office, she said.
No student labs or classrooms were affected, OSU spokesman Sean Kennedy said.
No classes were scheduled at the building Wednesday, but campus was closed, he said.
Tulsa Police Officer Leland Ashley said the property room was closed Wednesday as crews assessed the damage.
"There was not any reported damage to the contents inside the property room," he said.
Wind gusts as high as 70 mph also blew portions of roofs off several buildings in Osage County, which prompted the evacuation of a nursing home there, said Adrian Horn, Osage County EMS deputy director.
The Pawhuska Nursing Home, the city's fire department and a fairground building all lost portions of their roofs, she said.
The nursing home began evacuating residents after 11 p.m., Horn said.
Horn said she didn't have information as to how many residents were included in the evacuation.
"They went to another nursing home that is out of town," Horn said. "They have a quite a bit of damage."
Three Utica Park clinics in Tulsa did not accept patients Wednesday morning because, though they had power, phones and computers were not operating properly, a spokeswoman said.
The only damage reported at the Oklahoma State University Medical Center was a few windows blown out in the skybridge connecting the parking garage to the main building.
Saint Francis Hospital also reported window damage and a few minor water leaks. Saint Francis Hospital South was running on generator power for a short time, but power had been restored Wednesday morning.
The powerful thunderstorms swept through parts of Oklahoma late Tuesday and early Wednesday, knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses and setting off fires caused by lightning strikes.
The National Weather Service said wind gusts of 75 mph or higher were reported in parts of the state.
The Tulsa chapter of the American Red Cross maintained a cooling station throughout the day at Crosstown Church of Christ, 3400 E. Admiral Place, for those without power.
World Correspondent Sheila Stogsdill contributed to this story.
Amanda Bland 918-581-8413 Shannon Muchmore 918-581-8378
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Copyright 2013 - Tulsa World, Okla.
