'We want to rebuild': tornado-warned storms uproot McAlester's Old Town revival efforts

People in McAlester are looking at what's next after tornado-warned storms left a path of destruction throughout areas of downtown Saturday morning.

McAlester's city manager told News On 6 no one was injured when the storms rolled through, but it could be a long cleanup process.

Old Town Damage

Tammy Wigginton who runs Main Street Junction said the building that houses her business had been there for over 100 years. She said she was working with other nearby businesses to bring Old Town back to life before the recent storms.

"We're trying to revive old town, and we've got a lot of antique stores here. We all are pretty close, we have an Old Town Association, we meet once a month and try to do stuff for Old Town and we get a lot of visitors in from out of town. So it's an important part," Wigginton said.

The building that housed Catholic Charities was one of the hardest hit, with most of the second floor completely damaged.

Other buildings, like the Miller Glass Company, had their windows completely blown out from the winds.

Farmers Market Turnout

Despite all of the storms and damage left behind, the Pittsburg County Farmers Market still went on as planned Saturday morning.

"I was worried because I had seen people were saying it had hit downtown, and I got here and thought it was the market, and I'd seen it blew across the railroad tracks," Mary Ann Cathey who manages the market said.

She said lots or residents across McAlester come to shop local, so when the storms hit, she started getting lots of phone calls.

"Everything is locally grown and so a lot of people come here from all around McAlester... People were calling me 'are we still going to have it open and stuff?' As long as there's no more storms, yes," Cathey said.

Even with the storms, vendors told News On 6 they still had a great turnout.

"I had a bunch of stuff this morning, and people were out and about. I thought everyone would be at home during the storms, but they have come and wiped me out," Haley Weley said after lots of people bought her baked goods.

What's Next

With the road to rebuilding ahead, business owners hope to get back up and running soon.

"That's what we hope is that everything will be fixable," Wigginton said.

The City of McAlester said its expanding landfill access so residents can dispose of any storm debris. The city said it will accept tree limbs and vegetation only; no trash dumping will be permitted.

Landfill Days & Hours:

1. Monday through Friday (June 9-13) 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
2. Saturday (June 14) 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.