FAIRVIEW, Okla. (KOKH) — A mother and daughter were killed late Thursday night during a powerful storm system that produced multiple tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds.
The Major County Sheriff’s Office said the pair was found dead inside a vehicle.
Family members said Jodie Owens was on the phone with her children, telling them to take cover, when a tornado struck the van she was in.
Her teenage daughter, Lexi Owens, was with her and also died. Lexi was a seventh grader in Fairview.
Jodie Owens was the mother of eight children and four grandchildren, according to family. She worked as a substitute teacher and was very active in the Fairview school community.
A GoFundMe has been created to help cover funeral expenses.
“If you knew Jodie, you know she never asked for anything for herself. She was always the one showing up for everyone else — at the PTA, at the school band cheering on Lexi on the drums, at church, in her neighborhood. She loved God, she loved her family, and she loved her community deeply,” Owens’ sister wrote on the fundraiser page.
Gov. Kevin Stitt also offered his condolences to the family on X early Friday morning.
The National Weather Service reported that at least four tornadoes touched down in western Oklahoma, primarily in Grant and Alfalfa counties, causing damage.
Storms ripped through the state Thursday evening and into the overnight hours. Several storm chasers wrecked their vehicles in northwest Oklahoma during the nocturnal storm event, emergency management officials reported.
Severe weather was expected in Oklahoma again on Friday afternoon.
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