Couple Drives RV Through Storm in Pawnee, Gets Thrown Against Tree

PAWNEE, Okla. — The lake is a place where Larry Kling and his family gather to spend time together and relax. Every summer, they spend a few months at an RV park near Pawnee Lake.

Oklahomans didn’t really pay attention to the approaching storm. But the weather quickly turned bad.

“The first thing that came to my mind was when the wind picked up and everything happened, what happened to the little rain?” Kling said.

The storm took them all by surprise, without warning and without the alarm sirens sounding.

He and his wife were inside their caravan when the wind picked up.

“The camper started moving violently and my wife wanted to get out,” Kling said. “I grabbed her and told her to stay inside, and that’s when our camper spun.”

The only thing keeping their camper upright and away from the water was a tree.

“You can’t describe it, you can’t,” Kline said. “I mean, it’s like they put you in something and they do something to you.

Her stepfather was in a camper next to them, closer to the water. That camper also stopped rolling after hitting another tree.

“My wife noticed the RV moving, and I knew it was moving, but I couldn’t tell which way it was moving… If it was going sideways, if it was rolling over, anything, until we hit the tree, and then I knew we were still upright.”

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The couple were thrown around when their trailer flipped off its stand and crashed into a nearby tree.

But Kling, as a volunteer firefighter with the Morrison Fire Department, knew he couldn’t stay put.

“My main concern was whether my wife was okay, and when I was sure she was okay, we both went out to try to help everyone we could find and see.”

The trailer closest to them was the one Kling and his wife checked first.

He had been blown aside by the wind.

The girls inside said they were fine so they went to help other neighbors.

KJRH

That’s when Sheriff Darrin Varnell said nearly 200 first responders from surrounding counties pulled into the RV park.

Kling is grateful that they all escape the storm unscathed, as he knows not everyone is so lucky.

Although they suffered some damage, the storm did nothing to dampen his family’s spirits.

“We’re going to go home, we’re going to fix it and be ready to start over next year and hope it’s all better,” Kling said. “I mean, you can’t give up, it’s Oklahoma, you’ve got to deal with it and that’s what we’re doing.”

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