EL RENO — in the first of the deadly tornadoes from Friday evening, the well-respected Canadian Valley Technology Center lost a good portion of its roof and cars in the main parking lot were tossed and turned as the tornado passed by on its way to the Banner/Yukon area after making a “hard right” turn to almost exactly mirror Interstate 40 heading east.
Those in class attendance or working at Canadian Valley were quickly gathered into a basement as the tornado approached. While there was extensive structure damage and vehicle damage, no injuries were reported.
One administrator described the damage he saw when he arrived on scene after the tornado.
“It’s unbelievable damage. It’s just incredible, direct hits. I’m not sure what the EF rating is on the tornado. It’s dark, it’s been dark. I got here after it was dark and I really don’t know. We’ll know in the morning but it looks like a total loss,” Greg Winters said.
Canadian Valley will be updating its Facebook page with damage details over the weekend as it is assessed. The Technology Center houses students from all over the extended OKC metro, including Yukon, Banner, Minco, El Reno, Piedmont, Mustang and others.