Tornados damage marinas in Missouri and Oklahoma
The warm weather tornado season has already brought damage to two marinas, one in Missouri and another in Oklahoma.
An EF-0 tornado touched down over Table Rock Lake State Park Marina in Branson, Mo., on April 24, according to KSPR 33 News reports.
Damage to State Park Marina could be up to $200,000, but no one was injured.
“By all accounts and eyewitnesses, it looks like we had a small tornado come across the lake and hit three of our large docks,” said marina co-owner Patrick Cox.
The major damage was done to Dock L, where heavy winds ripped the metal roof off. The dock was also pushed by heavy winds. Typically, the pier going out to the dock is aligned with its concrete base onshore, but it was completely pushed off that base. Other piers were under water.
Cox said the damage was minimal, compared to what it could have been. Ninety percent of the marina was unharmed, he said.
On May 10, a tornado destroyed Little River Marina in Norman, Okla., according to a report in The Oklahoman.
Owner Bob Davis said his marina, worth about $2 million, is a total loss. “It was direct hit,” Davis said. “The whole marina is wrapped tight into a cluster. I can’t even identify one dock from another.”
Davis said that unlike a weekend day, nobody was at the marina when the tornado hit, according to a May 13 report in The Norman (Okla.) Transcript.
When Davis arrived the day after the tornado, he said, “It was a real mess. I was just amazed.”
The marina housed about 470 boats, and Davis said all of them received some degree of damage.
“Right now, we’re just getting the stuff out the water to avoid any environmental problems,” Davis said. He said it could be a year before the marina is operational again.
Date: May 17, 2010
Categories: Industry News