An early morning storm that struck the Stroud area last Friday has virtually destroyed an apartment complex that was under renovation, the owner said this week.
Some Lincoln County residents also were continuing to clean up this week following weekend storms that caused power outages, lots of damage to trees and some outbuildings.
Lincoln County Emergency Management Director Charlotte Brown said, “We had no fatalities, no injuries and didn’t lose any homes.”
Cody Paige, owner of the apartment complex located at Bryan and Main Streets in Stroud, said he bought it with a house attached to it in December of 2022. “The house is three bedroom, two baths and 1,500 square feet,” Paige said.
“It took about six months to remodel the house. In June of 2023, the house remodel was finished,” he noted.
“On about March 5 of this year (2024), we started renovating the apartment complex. We had just gotten the roofs done four weeks ago Friday and we were in the beginning stage of the electrical and plumbing. We had just completed the exterior, including masonry work, facia, new siding installation and all new exterior doors were installed,” he noted.
Paige explained that the house was rented and the tenants were inside the house last Friday morning when the storm struck. “They were not injured and the house suffered only minor roof damage.
“But the apartment complex, named ‘Mother Road Views,’ was virtually a total loss,” Paige lamented.
He said the insurance adjuster was coming out on Tuesday to assess the damage.
Asked what’s next, Paige replied, “We would love to rebuild. But in today’s market we’re just not sure.”
He said with the house, it’s a six-unit complex “and after the renovation it would have been an eight-unit complex. I have about $150,000 invested in it so far, so we’re probably looking at $300,000 plus,” Paige thinks.
He said the complex was originally constructed in 1945 as the Glen Mae Hotel.
Brown, in further discussing the storms, said that Lincoln County was included in Gov. Kevin Stitt’s State of Emergency Declaration over the weekend, “so we are working on that. We’re doing damage assessment for Lincoln County and we’d like to have that done within 30 days,” she noted.
Brown said, “While Emergency Management staff will continue to look for areas of damage that may have occurred during the storms, we want people to reach out to us if they have any damage. If anybody has any kind of damage,” she emphasized, “They may contact us at 405-258-1101 or email us at charlottebrown@lincolncountyok. org” She said Saturday night’s storm primarily damaged areas and downed power lines in the Wellston and Stroud areas, but none in Chandler. “It went from Sparks to Davenport to Kendrick was the path, damaging outbuildings and trees, but no homes.
“We’re grateful for that,” Brown added.
She said residents have been busy cleaning up since the storms hit.
Brown also pointed to the early morning storms Friday that struck the Stroud area. “We assisted the Stroud Emergency Management,” she stated.
Parts of Wellston and Stroud were without power for a while on Friday, Brown said.