City still working on storm damage

The impact of the Nov. 3 tornado and associated storms are still being felt as roads to Comanche Lake and the golf course remain closed as of last Friday.

“They’re having to reconstruct the Comanche Lake electric lines,” said Cheryl Johnson, city clerk. 

Johnson said the clubhouse was not destroyed completely, but it did sustain significant damage. The city is going to use the opportunity to move the clubhouse to a different location across the road.

The golf course will be closed until further notice. Those wishing to fish can access the lake from the east side as that road is still open. 

“If you need to pay for a campsite, make reservations, purchase any lake permits, call or come by City Hall,” Johnson said.

She said the campsites and the trailers and RVs that were present did not suffer any significant damage from the tornado.

“There was maybe a little bit of damage,” Johnson said. “It was nothing major. There were some trees down and stuff.”

Johnson said when the golf course does open back up she would like to see the city give members who pay monthly a free month, but that will be a city council decision.

Utility supervisor Lester Lehew posted an open letter on Nov. 6 to the public about re-establishing the city’s power following the storm.

“My crew, along with the OMPA line crew (one out of Marlow and one out of Fairview) sprung into action to get the power back up as fast and as safe as possible,” Lehew said in the letter. “Understand some things are not a simple and easy fix and everyone should have electricity back to your homes. We still have more to do that will extend into the end of (this)week to get our system back up to 100 percent.”

Lehew went on to thank the OMPA line crew for their assistance, especially at Comanche Lake.

“But having the OMPA crew here to work on the line at the lake allowed me and my guys to focus on the town’s needs.”