10 businesses condemned, 129 damaged as owners assess what comes next after midtown Tulsa tornado

Owner Allan Chaney stood tantalizingly near apparently salvageable items inside his severely damaged Woodcraft store, but the goods effectively were out of reach after officials condemned his building as unsafe to enter.

Chaney’s business was among 10 that were condemned by city inspectors Monday along 41st Street between Yale Avenue and Sheridan Road. Officials determined that 129 businesses were damaged — including four that were destroyed — when an EF2 tornado swept through Tulsa early Sunday.

Within an hour of each other, three more tornadoes — all rated EF1 — touched down in Broken Arrow and Rogers County.

In midtown Tulsa’s Highland Plaza development, Chaney could only stand on the sidewalk to survey the extensive damage inside what he described as his “candy store” for woodworkers. Inspectors were evaluating whether the structure can be shored up enough to allow workers in to salvage products.

Read more: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/businesses-condemned-damaged-as-owners-assess-what-comes-next-after/article_0f627e26-1d2b-5ec3-995b-a54ea08b967d.html