County Emergency Manger Brian McDaniel Provides Figures On April 27, 2024 Twister
Murray County Emergency Manager Brian McDaniel received updated facts and figures of tornado damage, assessments and payments last Friday, April 25. The figures came two days prior to the one-year anniversary of the disaster (April 27, 2024).
The information received is by county, but the majority of the destruction occurred in Sulphur or on the east side of county.
According to data released by the Oklahoma Emergency Management (OEM) office, FEMA has disbursed $2,526,098.90 in individual assistance to residents while the Small BusinessAdministration (SBA) has issued $4,228,262.00 in low interest disaster loans to residents and business owners.
According to the figures, 108 homes were destroyed, 32 incurred major damage and 21 had minor damage.
The Oklahoma Department of Commerce reported 33 businesses were either damaged or destroyed, but according to the Murray County Assessor Bradley Vandagriff, approximately 68 businesses were affected by the storm with 58 of those being a total loss or having major damage.
The local Public Damage Assessment (PDA) was initially put at $7,969,320.00 which qualified Sulphur for disaster relief. To date, FEMA Public Assistance stands at $4,532,085.87, but not all projects have been formulated and submitted so that number will rise, McDaniel said.
Overall to date, including damages in the Chickasaw National Recreation, the total tornado damage assessment stands at $64 million for Sulphur and Murray County.
The Chickasaw National Recreation Area damages were assessed at $36.5 million, leaving the rest of the community and county with $28 million in damages and losses.
McDaniel said these are not the final figures on the impact of the tornado and expects the final totals to be significantly higher when all figures are tabulated.
One person was killed a number of others injured when the tornado swept through the park and downtown area last April.
