News On 6 Tulsa: Grief-Fueled Entrepreneurship Collides With a New Round of Tornado Risk

News On 6 Tulsa is tracking a striking contrast in Oklahoma: as two Tulsa friends prepare to audition for ‘Shark Tank’ with a product born from grief, authorities and forecasters are simultaneously confronting deadly, tornado-related impacts and the likelihood of more severe storms.

What is News On 6 Tulsa learning from a Tulsa business built on loss?

Two Tulsa women, Kristine Fears and Suzanne Boyd, are now business partners after meeting more than a decade ago. Their friendship began on a blind double date with their husbands more than 13 years ago, after mutual friends introduced them. Fears had recently moved to Tulsa at the time and wanted to meet new people.

Boyd described how quickly the friendship deepened into routine support. “We actually became prayer partners very soon after that and started praying for babies, ” Boyd said. “And we had babies five days apart. ” Over the years, they continued to navigate major life milestones together, including raising families.

The business idea, however, emerged from a sudden personal rupture. Boyd’s mother, Mary, died unexpectedly. Boyd was working as a pharmacist at the time. Fears, who had known Boyd’s mother, approached her with an idea meant to preserve Mary’s memory in something practical and everyday.

Boyd recalled the origin of the concept: “It was Kristine’s idea, ” Boyd said. “What if we created a product to honor your mom, and that’s why it’s a stain remover. After my mom, Mary. ” The product is called Mary’s Stain Remover. It includes a base inspired by a traditional washboard and a soap stick.

Boyd framed the inspiration as a reflection on the kind of care that can be overlooked until it is gone. “In my mom’s unexpected passing, I realized it was the small, continual daily acts of care, ” Boyd said.

They began developing the product in early 2024, working late after their children went to bed. “We were in her kitchen almost every night, ” Boyd said. “I would come over around 8: 30 or 9: 00 and we would start mixing things up. ” They described months of trial and error before reaching a version they believed worked. Despite the challenges, both characterized the effort as rewarding. “The success is having joy within the journey, ” Fears said. “This is something we’re really excited to share with people because it works. ” Now they are preparing to take the idea to a larger stage, with an audition for ‘Shark Tank’ next week.

What happened during the storms — and what is officially known?

As Tulsa friends push forward with a new venture, storm impacts elsewhere in Oklahoma have turned deadly. In Major County, a mother and her daughter were killed after their vehicle was struck by what authorities believed was a tornado during severe weather, based on a statement from the sheriff. In a separate statement describing the same incident, Sarah Stewart, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, said the crash “appears to be tornado related. ” Authorities said the pair, a 47-year-old woman and her 13-year-old daughter from Fairview, were found dead in a vehicle near an intersection of a highway and a county road at about 10 p. m. Thursday.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt addressed the loss Friday: “Severe weather struck Major County last night and tragically claimed the lives of a mother and daughter. I am praying for the family as they grieve this tragic loss, as well as all those impacted by the storms. ”

At the same time, storm verification remained an active process. Meteorologist Ryan Bunker said the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, planned to send out a damage survey crew Friday to determine whether Thursday night’s storms were confirmed tornadoes. “As of right now, we’re still investigating that, ” Bunker said.

Elsewhere in central Oklahoma, tornado activity was observed and documented Friday evening. Storm trackers Val and Amy Castor captured a tornado near Bristow, Oklahoma, around 5: 30 p. m. Friday (ET). In the same storm cycle, officials issued a tornado watch for Canadian, Carter, Cleveland, Garvin, Grady, Hughes, Jefferson, Kay, Lincoln, Logan, Love, McClain, Murray, Noble, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Payne, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Seminole, and Stephens County until 10: 00 p. m. (ET).

Damage and recovery efforts were underway in Major County after overnight tornadoes killed two people, while early reports indicated 6 or 7 tornadoes touched down overnight, including one near Fairview that took two lives. Emergency crews said most of the damage in Major County was near the Cimarron River. Authorities also said they had not received notifications of any homes being hit, while stating that about 150 customers in Major County were without power due to the storm. In northwestern Oklahoma, tornadoes on Thursday night left hundreds of homes without power, and power was restored north of Chester after being knocked out by severe storms.

What comes next for Tulsa — and what the public should watch for

The forecast picture pointed to continued risk into Friday, with severe weather expected to intensify. The national Storm Prediction Center assessed that more than 7 million Americans were at the highest risk of severe weather in an area including Kansas City, Missouri; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Omaha, Nebraska. Nearly 25 million people were placed in a slightly lesser risk zone including Dallas, Oklahoma City, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The National Weather Service stated that severe, scattered thunderstorms were expected Friday afternoon and evening from areas of the Plains states to the Ozarks and Midwest, and identified “the greatest potential for a few strong tornadoes and very large hail” across eastern portions of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska into western Arkansas and Missouri and southern Iowa.

Melissa Mayes, deputy director of the Washington County Emergency Management Agency in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, described the public attention level heading into the event: “This is probably our first real event this season where people are really starting to pay attention getting into the spring storm season. ”

In the same moment that Oklahoma monitors watches, warnings, and damage surveys, Tulsa residents are also watching personal stories of perseverance play out. News On 6 Tulsa will be watching both tracks closely: the high-stakes audition next week for a product built to honor Mary’s memory, and the evolving, officially investigated reality of tornado-related impacts and more storms to come.