Wednesday, May 22, 2013 – On Monday afternoon a large and damaging tornado touched down at 2:56 p.m., 16 minutes after a first warning went out, and traveled for 20 miles, said a spokeswoman for the National Weather Service (NWS) in Norman, Okla. It was on the ground for 40 minutes, she said. It struck the town of Newcastle and traveled about 10 miles to Moore, which has a population of about 55,000. Television images showed destruction spread over a vast area, with blocks upon blocks of homes and businesses destroyed.
NWS data suggested that it was a Category 5 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which measures tornado strength on a scale of 0 to 5. The tornado’s winds were estimated to have been at least 200 miles per hour. (Reporting courtesy of the NY Times)
McLarens has activated its CAT Team for the Central US, which will be headquartered in the McLarens Oklahoma City branch office 15 miles north of the tornado’s touchdown path. Organizations with interests in the impacted area may contact their regular McLarens representative, or the McLarens CAT Coordinator listed below to place instructions or loss reports.
CAT Coordinator
Steve Whitmarsh,
Executive General Adjuster, Vice President,
McLarens,
6440 Avondale Drive, Suite 200,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73116, United States.
Phone:+1 405 418-2088
Mobile:+1 405 623.1163
Fax:+1 405 418-2089
