Slow recovery for tornado-hit Sulphur, Marietta businesses

Rebuilding businesses and the local economies in Sulphur and Marietta is slow going after tornadoes tore through the two south central Oklahoma communities on April 27, officials said this week.

An EF-4 tornado destroyed Marietta’s only grocery store, ripped the roof off its hospital and plowed through a 1 million-square-foot Dollar Tree distribution center, the largest employer in the Love County community of 2,800.

“That’s devastating to my county as far as tax revenue loss,” District 3 County Commissioner Stacy Rushing said.

“Homeland has committed to build back and they’re clearing the site,” Rushing said. “Dollar Tree hasn’t reached out to any elected officials. I think they’re skeptical to say one way or another because they don’t have enough information yet.”

The Chesapeake, Virginia-based company’s quarterly report released June 5 said losses incurred as of May 4 totaled $117 million ($70 million in inventory and $47 million in property and equipment).

“We believe the aforementioned incurred losses will be fully offset by insurance recoveries. Expected insurance recoveries for business interruption and redevelopment costs greater than the losses recognized cannot be estimated at this time,” the report said.

Kate Kirkpatrick, vice president of communications at Dollar Tree, said Friday there is nothing new to report.

“I pray they build back because that was 450 jobs,” Rushing said.

The community’s only hospital, Mercy Health Love County, also was destroyed but its clinic has reopened. Marietta is without a hospital and emergency room until the facility is rebuilt.

“We’re two years out reopening the hospital,” Mercy spokeswoman Nancy Dixon said Friday.

The destruction has reduced the county’s assessed property valuation by an estimated $10.6 million, which means a potential tax loss of more than $1.27 million, the Marietta Monitor newspaper reported in May.

Although the damage in Marietta was not nearly as destructive as in Sulphur, Marietta suffered about 10 times more value loss because the tornado hit Marietta’s largest employer and tax producer, Kalee Jantzen, a specialist from Oklahoma State University, told the newspaper.

In Sulphur, a town of 5,000 residents 50 miles north in Murray County, a tornado destroyed multiple downtown buildings and leveled houses in surrounding neighborhoods.

City officials did not respond to phone calls this week about how the recovery is going.

Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby in June unveiled a $6 million fundraising initiative aimed at rebuilding businesses and bolstering economic recovery in Sulphur and Marietta. Both communities lie within the Chickasaw Nation.

Anoatubby appointed Chickasaw Nation Secretary of State Bill Lance to chair the Business Rebuild and Recovery Campaign spearheaded by a committee of stakeholders. “We will focus on raising funds to support the local business communities' enormous rebuilding and recovery efforts. The restoration is essential for providing vital goods and services and generating tax revenues that fund crucial public services,” Lance said in a news release.

The Chickasaw Foundation will oversee the application process and distribution of funds to qualifying applicants affected by the recent disasters.

More than 50 local businesses in the two communities suffered either total or significant losses, Anoatubby said. “This fund will help ensure they have an opportunity to rebuild in a manner that allows them to reopen as soon as possible while preserving the historic character of the communities.”

The project will provide architectural consulting services and design recommendations that will help preserve the look and feel in the historic downtown area of Sulphur.

In Marietta, the focus is on restoring vital goods and services damaged or destroyed by the tornado that swept through the west side of town.

Rushing said the Chickasaw Nation’s efforts are appreciated. “They’re a blessing to the communities. They help in so many different areas,” he said.

Among the 68 businesses damaged or destroyed in Sulphur were some Chickasaw Nation facilities, including the Artesian Hotel and ARTesian Gallery. Mahota Textiles and an administrative office were destroyed.

Anoatubby said the Chickasaw Nation is working with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as local organizations to help fill in the gaps to support Sulphur.

“We are part of this community. We love this place, and we are going to do whatever we can to help. We are ready to do that,” Anoatubby said in the news release. “We have businesses here and it is in our heart, so we are going to work to help.”

SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman came to Sulphur on June 4 and met with tribal, state and local officials.

Guzman said the SBA can loan businesses as much as $2 million, $500,000 for homeowners and up to $100,000 for renters.

Physical disaster loans were made available through July 1. Economic injury loans will be available through the end of January.

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