‘I think it was a fluke’ | Morris man lives through 2 tornadoes 40 years apart

By Braden Bates

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    MORRIS, Oklahoma (KJRH) — The town of Morris is still recovering tonight from two EF-1 tornadoes that swept through Saturday night.

This is not the first time a tornado hit this community. It is something people living there said they are all too familiar with.

For one Morris man, he went through both tornadoes that hit nearly 40 years apart, to the day.

“It seemed like if it was going to happen it was going to be bad. And sure enough, it was,” said Pastor Kevin Gibson. Gibson said the tornadoes are scary on its own but the time coincidence left it more unsettling.

On April 27, 2024, the town saw the two EF-1 tornadoes. 40 years earlier on April 26, 1984, it was hit with the EF-3.

“You know, just the idea of it hitting 40 years close to the day was just a little nerve-wracking for us,” Gibson said.

The EF-3 ripped through town when Gibson was 6. He said it left him with some storm anxiety.

“I mean, you know storms are something that always caused me a little anxiety just because being through one when you were a kid,” said Gibson. He told 2 news about the 1984 tornado.

He was in his first-grade class with Ms. Reed on the day of the EF-3. The school did a tornado drill and the students grabbed their hard notebooks and went into the hall.

Later that day the art teacher’s assigned the kids to finger paint something weather-related.

“I actually finger-painted a tornado destroying our town. And that’s what I finger-painted and brought it home and hung it on my wall. And that night was when the tornado came through,” said Gibson.

Before the recent storm came through he said he talked with his daughters about the storm.

“We were talking about tornadoes in Oklahoma with our daughters on Saturday. And we were talking about how if there was one place in Oklahoma where I would not want to live it would be Moore, Oklahoma,” said Gibson. “Because Moore, Oklahoma has been hit so many times in the same track. And so my daughters were asking, ‘Is that possible?’ And so I said ‘I think that was a fluke deal.’ And then we had this one come through, that night for Morris and so she pointed that out the next day.”

Gibson said he is moved by the outpouring of support for the community from lineworkers to volunteers.

The town’s motto is “The Little City with a Big Welcome.” With that, they welcomed many who came to help with the cleanup.

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