Hampton Inn guests take tornado strike in Bartlesville, Oklahoma: 'I was just staring into open sky'
BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – It was over within minutes.
Matt Macedo was staying at a Hampton Inn in Bartlesville, Oklahoma for work Monday evening when a massive tornado struck the area. The storm caused extensive damage, including the A/C unit going through a wall into a hallway, and a flagpole falling onto his work truck. Fortunately, he and the other guests at the hotel were unharmed.
As soon as the tornado sirens went off, Macedo said he got his coworker, and they went down to the lobby where most of the hotel guests were already sheltering. They sought refuge in a windowless laundry room when the twister struck the hotel.
"Immediately after getting hit, we went back up and started to see if there was anybody still upstairs," Macedo told FOX Weather.
He said as he approached his room on the far southern end of the third floor of the hotel, "it used to just be a wall with a window. As I walked out and looked to the left, I was just staring into open sky."
Macedo said there was much more damage on the first floor, where there was an A/C unit that went through the wall.
"Directly below where I was, I found out later on that there were actually people that were trapped on the second floor, that some of the debris cut off their stairway and they couldn't get out of their rooms," Macedo said.
As far as Macedo could tell, the hotel area suffered among the worst damage in Bartlesville.
"They sent us away last night to a different hotel, and we did go back (Tuesday) morning to get some more pictures of our work truck," he said. "But as far as I can tell, it seems pretty localized."
Major damage was also reported to medical facilities and in residential areas in northeast Bartlesville.
Macedo has lived in Norman, Oklahoma, for about eight years. During this time, a couple of tornadoes have come close to where he lives. He and his family take shelter or watch the weather during these events.
"This is by far the closest encounter I've had with one," he said.
At least four tornadoes have been confirmed to have hit Oklahoma since Monday. Osage County Emergency Management officials confirmed to FOX Weather that at least one person was killed when the tornado cut through Barnsdall.
Original article source: Hampton Inn guests take tornado strike in Bartlesville, Oklahoma: 'I was just staring into open sky'
