Many tribes living in Oklahoma before European contact were the descendants of the region’s original inhabitants.

Many tribes living in Oklahoma before European contact were the descendants of the region’s original inhabitants.

The region we now recognize as Oklahoma has been continuously inhabited since Paleo-Indians arrived 11,000 years ago.

Over time, these people came to settle for longer periods of time, eventually developing agriculture sometime around 800 AD.

Over the following centuries, several different cultures and languages developed.

One of them was the Teyas which disappeared without a trace since European explorers first encountered them.

Others, such as the Wichita and the Caddo, endured the European invasion of the ancestral homelands and still live in what we now call Oklahoma.

It was even worse in 1999 when one of the strongest tornadoes ever recorded, with wind speeds of 300 mph, struck Moore, killing 44 and leaving a path of destruction in its wake.

The new building codes are great, but I wish they were approved sooner,” said Lewis, who was mayor when both tornadoes hit.

While many building codes require structures be able to withstand a 90-mile-per-hour wind for 30 seconds, Moore’s new standards, approved by the town council this year, mandate that homes withstand a 135 mph wind - still not foolproof protection but better than was in place before.