Woodward , Oklahoma ( CNN ) -- Paul Lord 's home is a shambles , and a large bandage is draped across his head -- not from four previous brain surgeries he had endured but from the plywood that smacked him , while he was outside trying to warn a family across the street about a coming tornado . And yet Sunday , the Woodward , Oklahoma , resident was all about giving thanks . Thankful for the neighbors who , after the twister slammed through his and other homes , had rushed over and picked up the washer and driver sitting atop his grandson . Another grandson had been blown away from the house , only to be found with two big cuts on his arm . Lord also expressed appreciation for staff at Woodward Regional Hospital who , he said , had treated him and his family with a minimum of paperwork and maximum of caring and expertise . Tornado threats from Arkansas to Minnesota . And lastly , he gestured to those working feverishly behind him -- some of them neighbors , some strangers -- to clear the rubble . `` We are truly blessed . God saved us , and that 's what it 's about , '' Lord said . Following an earlier bout of severe weather , the tornado barreled through Woodward just after midnight Sunday . Compounding the fact it struck at such a late hour , the high winds `` took out '' the transmitter for the public siren and tornado notification system , and `` we lost our manual override '' when the electricity was knocked out , City Manager Alan Riffel said -- meaning there was no warning system . `` It caught us asleep , mostly , '' Mayor Roscoe Hill told CNN . Afterward , it was learned that five people in Woodward -- a community of about 12,000 people about 85 miles west of Enid and not far from the Panhandle -- had died as a result . While the powerful system hit a hospital , blew truckers off highways and shredded buildings in several states , Woodward was the only place where fatalities were reported over the weekend . They include Frank Hobbie , who died along with two girls -- presumed to be his 5- and 7-year-old daughters -- according to state medical examiner 's spokesman Amy Elliot . Hill earlier said that a father and his two children were inside a trailer at the Hidden Valley Mobile Home Park when the tornado rolled through and killed them . Elliot identified one of the other dead as Derrin Juul . A 10-year-old girl who was found with him is thought to be Juul 's daughter . Hill had said that two people died when the car they were in rolled over several times . Still , given the power and timing of the storm , Oklahoma Gov . Mary Fallin said late Sunday afternoon that she believes it is `` remarkable that we did n't have more loss of life in Woodward . '' Fallin detailed some survival stories from the small city . One man was lying asleep on his sofa , with his dog beside him , when the tornado came through , Fallin said . The intense winds picked up him and his sofa and dumped him behind his house . But except for some scrapes , he escaped unscathed . The governor also recalled how a woman described hunkering down with her family , wrapping her arms around her pregnant daughter , as the twister approached . Afterward , the daughter was rushed to a nearby hospital where her baby was delivered , safely by cesarean section , according to Fallin . Lord was a survivor long before this weekend 's storms , having undergone two heart procedures in addition to his four brain surgeries . His latest wound , a big gash to his head , was stitched back up early Sunday . He said he did not initially notice it , as he rushed to get his grandson to the hospital even before he 'd located his wife of 43 years . Hours later , Lord was back where his home once stood . People young and old were working hard nearby , tossing debris , cutting through wood with chainsaws and otherwise trying to bring order to the chaos caused by the tornado . `` This is Woodward , Oklahoma , '' said Lord . `` We 're here to take care of each other ... We 're truly blessed in so many ways , and one of them is to live here . '' As to what what treasured mementos he hopes to find among the wreckage , Lord said he already had everything he needed . `` I found them . My son , my daughter , my son-in-law , my grandbabies , my wife , '' he said . `` Everything else is brick and stick , and they 're all easily replaced . '' CNN 's Rich Phillips and Greg Botelho contributed to this report .
Paul Martin and his family survive after a tornado tears through his home . ` ` has saved us , and that 's what it 's about , '' says the Woodward , Oklahoma , newspaper . Five people in Woodward were killed in the same storm . Oklahoma 's governor says it is ` ` remarkable '' the death toll there was n't higher .