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COOKSON, Okla. – The cleanup process continues after tornadoes ripped through the eastern parts of the state last week.

One of the hardest hit areas Friday night was Lake Tenkiller and the Snake Creek Marina.

Piles of rubble is what’s left along the marina, and now, those who live near the lake are wondering what’s going to happen next.

“Here was the bed and here was the tree in the middle of it,” said Dorothy Brantley.

Brantley and her family couldn’t believe their eyes when they found their home by the lake gone in a matter of minutes.

“Glasses were shattered all over the floor, the insulation was down, it was just a booger,” said Brantley.

The National Weather Service in Tulsa said two tornadoes caused damage near the lake.
A projected EF2 hit Sequoyah and Cherokee counties with 115 to 125 mile per hour winds.

Snake Creek Marina was destroyed.

The boats that were docked were tossed by the winds and flipped over as if they were toys.

Power poles snapped in half, trees were uprooted and homes were turned into rubble.

“We started getting phone calls from neighbors, from our friends that said, ‘are y’all at the lake?’ and we weren’t,” said Brantley.

Brantley and her husband live in Fort Smith, Arkansas. They bought their lake home in March and planned to live out their retirement there. Those plans changed last weekend.

“We got up the next morning and we thought maybe it wasn’t our turn, but we got here and it was,” said Brantley.

Their dream home – destroyed. Now, all that’s left is a pile of debris in its place.

She said they were sick to see what all had happened.
However, she is glad her family wasn’t there when the storm blew through.

Brantley said things can be replaced, but her loved ones cannot be.

“We’ll buy another trailer, but we won’t ever be able to find one like this. We’ll find something, we’ll be back in here by the summer,” she said.

The National Weather Service said the damage survey for the remainder of the long-track tornado which hit Lake Tenkiller in Cherokee County and continued into Adair County will be completed on Monday.