'We Can Rebuild': Claremore Family Narrowly Escapes Damaging Tornado Unharmed

A family of four in Claremore is overwhelmed after losing their home of ten years and everything inside of it.

A tornado destroyed it. 

They were home before it hit, and got to safety just in time. 

Matthew Payne said he and his wife had just enough time to wake up their children, grab their dog, and some essentials to run into the cellar, and if they had waited just 10 more minutes, they may not be standing here today.

The Payne family was planning to go boating this Memorial Day weekend, but after severe weather passed, those plans changed.

"We were planning on, you know, it'll miss us, you know, like it always does, this time it didn't miss us and now the boat is over in those trees," said tornado victim Matthew Payne.

Nine-year-old Luke hasn't experienced anything like this before. 

"The debris and rain and stuff sounded like a train on top of us," Luke said.
Matthew said once he heard the debris and insulation come inside the cellar, he knew his home had been hit.

"It had destroyed everything that I had built over the last ten years," he said.
Six-year-old McKinley describes seeing the home for the first time after the storm. 

"When we got out of the storm shelter we looked at our house and we were crying so bad," she said.

Matthew says this was the only home the kids have ever known, and every time he looks at it he's at a loss for words. 

"We remodeled this house, put our touch on it, my kids have a lot of memories in this house and then it's just wiped away, so we're just going to do the best we can," Matthew said.

He hopes his children will take away two things after overcoming something so tragic.

"I hope they can take away that you know we can rebuild, you know as long as we have each other, they can overcome anything," Matthew said.

Luke lost his toys, and money he's been saving.

"That was my PlayStation, my Nintendo, my VR, and my safe with about $300 in it," said Luke. 

But that isn't what's most important to him.

"That our family is still alive," said Luke. 

The Paynes are staying in a hotel Sunday, and are waiting on insurance to assess the damage, and they'll continue to clean up their property in the meantime.