Saturday, April 25, 2026 • Severe weather possible Saturday afternoon. Near 80. ⛈️

🚨 Severe weather map for Saturday.

🙏 How to help Enid tornado victims (News 9)

💰 Advertise with Oklahoma Memo: $200 per ad placement. Headline, photo, blurb (50-100 words), link back to you. Message me at [email protected]. Revenue allows Oklahoma Memo to grow. Definitely appreciate your consideration!

By Emma Murphy and Barbara Hoberock
👉 Click here to support this newsroom

ENID – Residents in Enid and other Oklahoma communities on Friday were picking through rubble after at least six tornadoes swept through parts of the state.

About 40 homes were either damaged or destroyed in Enid and Garfield County after an EF4 tornado was on the ground for about 9 miles Thursday night, emergency officials reported Friday afternoon.

No one was killed, and 10 non-life-threatening injuries were reported from the tornado, which struck Enid, a city of about 51,300 residents, located about 85 miles north of Oklahoma City.

Gov. Kevin Stitt, who toured the damage on Friday afternoon along with U.S. Sen. James Lankford and others, said Vance Air Force Base, which trains fighter pilots, was also hit by the tornado. Air Force personnel will have to inspect all the planes that were repositioned before the tornado hit. The base also had some of its fences knocked down and some of its runway lighting system were damaged, Stitt said. The base has deployed security to patrol the perimeter until repairs to the fencing can be made, he said.

The tornado missed all of the base’s housing, he said.

State lawmakers, who represent the Enid area, said there were reports that the base also sustained damage to perimeter structures and there were downed power lines. 

The base did not respond to requests for comment. A Pentagon spokesperson on Friday referred comment to the base.

👉 Click here to read the rest of the story

Claude can be your analyst, editor, and strategist.
But most professionals are using it to fix grammar.

These 200+ Claude prompts take it from grammar tool to your most powerful AI work assistant.

Sign up for Superhuman AI and get:

Claim your free prompts

Editor’s note: Links requiring subscriptions have an *.

A hand-curated list of the best journalism from across the state:

• NEW DRONE VIDEO: 4Sight was out Friday morning capturing footage of Enid tornado damage (KFOR)

• USDA designates 56 Oklahoma counties as Natural Disaster Areas for drought (KOSU)

• Oklahoma Senate leader hits the brakes on immigration checks for welfare recipients (Oklahoma Voice)

• National preschool enrollment surged last year; Oklahoma’s continued to fall (Oklahoma Watch)

• Rep. Toni Hasenbeck asks Supreme Court to punt Sen. Adam Pugh from ballot (NonDoc)

• Muskogee breaks ground on $27.8M public safety complex (2 News Oklahoma)

• Langston firefighters injured in head-on collision after aiding tornado victims (KOCO)

• Feds approve Oklahoma's plan to get more people online (KOSU)

• Festival of the Arts kicks off 60th year celebrating art in OKC (Oklahoma City Free Press)

• Miss and Mister American Indian OSU pageant celebrating Native culture (The O’Colly)

• A red phone booth could mark the start of an arts revitalization in north Tulsa (Public Radio Tulsa)

• This Oklahoma City bookshop is letting customers become part owners (KOSU)

• Owen Heinecke's eligibility battle continues: NCAA appeals OU linebacker's preliminary injunction (Tulsa World)

• Bandits and bluegrass kick off western weekend in Texoma (KXII)

By Ryan Welton, Oklahoma Memo
👉 Click here to subscribe

Locals were on the grass visiting with representatives from the Oklahoma City Comets. Others were doing pilates. (Definitely not me, lol.) Some were getting neck massages at the spa nearby.

I was hanging out in the middle of it all where the duo Born In November was playing — and they were great. These guys covered Sylvia’s 1982 hit “Nobody” in a unique yacht rock style. As a musician, I was kind of mesmerized by their arrangements.

Hundreds of Oklahomans stopped by a special open house Thursday night along The Boardwalk, the newest addition to OKANA Resort & Indoor Waterpark in Oklahoma City.

Note: Oklahoma Memo will soon partner with OKANA on some content, but this is not that.

This evening was all chill pleasure.

After walking The Boardwalk a couple of times, my wife and I had a barbecue dinner inside Smokehouse Social, one of multiple restaurants there. It was terrific, as was the Apple Cider Margarita sample. (Who knew that maple went with tequila?)

You don’t have to be staying at the resort or having fun on the beach or the waterpark at OKANA to enjoy The Boardwalk. It’s its own thing — and my wife and I didn’t nearly experience the entirety of the place. (Curveball Kitchen; you’re next! ⚾)

A daily briefing connecting Oklahomans to the state’s best journalism — and original content from Oklahoma Memo. Got a news tip? Somebody I need to interview? Message me at [email protected].

Want more in-depth analysis, commentary on Oklahoma news? Join me on Substack.