JULY 2026
country living FOR MEMBERS OF EAST CENTRAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
The Days That Followed ECE Apprentice Lineman Tate Peters talks to three volunteers from the Lutheran Church Disaster Response Ministry during storm clean up on March 10.
This is not a story about tragedy. It is not the EF3 tornado that hit Beggs on March 6 or the lives it cut short. It is not the damaged classrooms or the feeling of loss. Those who were lost, and all that was changed, are honored and remembered. The value now is in the story of how a community came together. The response began within minutes of touchdown on that Friday night. Oklahoma Task Force 1 and Okmulgee County Emergency Management jumped into action. Barriers were put in place during search and rescue, and East Central Electric Cooperative crews were not permitted entry until dawn. For the residents of Grimes Road, it was the early morning sunlight that brought reality into focus. “It destroyed my daughter’s home, wiped it smooth out,” said Gennie
Clay, whose neighboring home also sustained minor damages. “You hear on TV when people talk about, after a tornado hits, it looks like a bomb has gone off. You never really realize how bad it really is until you get hit,” Clay said. “It looks like somebody took a fighter jet and just bombed all the way down the road. Everything is gone.” Saturday and Sunday were the domain of the emergency response teams. The American Red Cross brought in a canteen and served lunch. The Muscogee Creek Nation provided a generator for the Beggs Water Treatment Plant. Utility crews worked around the clock to get basic services restored. Crossroads Baptist Church became the center of action, a hub for people and resources. “It was all hands on deck, it was amazing to watch everybody come together,” said Ali Herman, who
stepped into the role of volunteer coordinator. Herman spent the weekend putting together the legal requirements of volunteers and sharing information across social media. By Monday morning, the response belonged to the community. Beginning with Shift 1 at 8 a.m., volunteers got to work. “We had over 140 volunteers,” Herman said. “From all over the state, people were coming in with dump trucks and skid steers.” The Lutheran Church Disaster Response Ministry helped to clear and remove $48,000 worth of uprooted and damaged trees at no cost. Other organizations, like Harlan Ford and the Okmulgee County Rotary Club, also made a difference. Every day, there were boots on the ground.
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