MARIETTA, Okla. — "Just loud," Sara Rose described. "Just shaking. You could feel it."
On Saturday night, Sara, her family and coworkers rode through a deadly tornado that struck her hometown of Marietta, Oklahoma.
The National Weather Service Norman upgraded the Marietta storm to a low-end EF4 tornado. It is the first tornado to produce EF4 damage in the State of Oklahoma since May 9, 2016, according to NWS Norman. One driver on I-35 died.
Sara was at Brody's Roadies, a convenience store with a Valero gas station off I-35. The shop is owned by her father, and Sara is an assistant manager.
After the tornado passed, Sara said drivers went into the store for help, injured from their cars and trucks overturning and getting hit with debris. She and her employees tried to patch them up, and let stranded drivers stay in the store overnight.
When Sara walked outside, she saw the destruction. 18-wheelers and vehicles were twisted around each other and debris was all over the parking lot.
Looking across the street, Sara saw that the town's only grocery store, Homeland, was severely damaged. The Dollar General store was leveled by the storm.
Her store manager, Tammy Bates, said, "Homeland is the only grocery store that we have within 20 miles so that is where everyone shops and there is no grocery store now."
Within sight from Brody's Roadies, a local nursing home was also damaged.
Marietta's only hospital was damaged too. The emergency room was in the path of the storm.
"They improvised well though," said Tammy.
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On the other side of I-35, Marietta's largest employer is the Dollar Tree Distribution Center. It was also torn apart by the EF4 tornado.
They are devastated that one person died in this tornado.
"The truck drivers are like our family. They come here all the time so it breaks my heart someone got killed," Tammy said.
"It gives me the chills thinking about it," said Sara.
Volunteers and crews from in and out of town have been working around the clock to clean up Marietta. It will take time to recover.
"We are grateful that God was watching over us and it could have been much worse. And we want to reach out and help everybody. I'll tell you, it's pretty amazing how the community does come together," Sara said.
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