May 20th Tornado

May 20, 2013 will never be forgotten - just added to the memories of May 3, 1999.  Our prayers go out to all the people affected by this storm and especially to those that lost loved ones.

Our weather forecasters had been telling us for days that we had some days coming up that had the potential to be bad and I have learned to respect their warnings.  We lived for 16 years in Moore one block from Briarwood Elementary and the tornadoes just seemed to be getting closer and closer to our home.  They seemed to have been following a similar path over Moore for years and just kept moving a few blocks south each time.  After the May 3rd tornado we finally put a tornado shelter in our garage floor and used it many times.  In all those years we were fortunate in that we never took a hit. In January 2012 we sold our home to move into our RV and moved into an RV park that sits between Newcastle, Bridge Creek and Blanchard where these tornadoes seem to get started or start to get ramped up as they head into the Moore area.

On the morning of May 20th I was supposed to be volunteering at a hospital in Oklahoma City with Bailey doing pet therapy.  However, since we lived in an RV I was not prepared to be away from it as we still had another dog to think about and they were reporting that these storms could start ramping up about 2 pm.  Typically I would have been driving to the Newcastle area at about 3:30 pm.  Regardless of which route I took to get home I would have been driving down either I-35 through Moore or I-44 into Newcastle at the time the storm was coming through and it crossed both of those highways.  I made the decision to stay home and stay tuned to the weather.  Sometime after 2 pm they reported that a large hook was developing over Bridge Creek and within minutes they were reporting a tornado warning.  This was so close to our RV park it was eerie.  Even though I had all our to-go stuff in the car, this really seemed to come much faster than usual.  John was at work so I was on my own.  I grabbed the girls and headed for the tornado shelter in the park.  Our little battery operated radio worked great in there and the weather folks were giving us block by block details of where this tornado was.  They reported where it first touched town and it was about 4 miles due north of where we were so I knew we were in the clear and headed back to the RV. 

At that point I had no idea where it crossed I-44 from Newcastle but watched in horror with tears streaming down my face at this monster was heading into Moore.  Names of all the folks we know were going through my mind as this thing churned east over home after home after home as well as schools.  This was gut wrenching to watch when you know so many people and knew they were losing everything and hoping it wasn't their lives as well.  John's son's home was right behind Veterans Park which was destroyed  but with tornadoes you never know whether the homes close by are gone or not until you an either see the neighborhoods from the air or get through to them by phone or text.

As the storm passed and we started to see pictures of the two elementary schools the feeling is almost indescribable.  You feel some guilt in knowing that all of your things were spared.  We had no power for almost 4 hours and therefore no way of checking on our friends and family.  I couldn't even get through to John to let him know we were okay and hoped he could figure that out.  John actually was able to get home before the power came back on so when it did my first point of business was to get an email out to our friends and family out of state that we were fine.  John's son, Paul, got in touch with us and we found out that his family and home had been missed by about a block and they were in their shelter during this.  Now for the text messages to our friends with hope the replies back would not only come but would come with good news.

Unfortunately nearly 4,000 homes destroyed in all the Oklahoma storms we knew several folks who lost everything.  Two of the couples we know lost their homes but were fortunate in that their homes didn't come completely down so they were actually able to rescue several items and cars.  One of them actually was able to move into a small apartment in a double wide in the park we live in.  The owners of the park immediately made it known to shelters that they had three places for families that were displaced to move into.  The other couple was contacted by a friend that had a rental home for them at now cost.  Rental property is going to go very very fast with so many families without homes.  I doubt there are enough rentals to help them all and it will take at least a couple of years for homes to be rebuilt. 

With the bad storms in Texas and the many areas this past week that were destroyed in Oklahoma finding reputable contractors and supplies is going to be difficult and will take a lot of time.  For those that had insurance the costly things to replace are vehicles.  So many are upside down and do not have gap insurance, or they didn't have a loan and now will have to.  It has been amazing to watch how fast help has arrived though.  From donations of money and items to electricity getting fixed and so forth.  I just pray that the city will provide the funds to clear off the foundations so the families do not have to deal with that as well.  I also pray that folks will be attuned to the scammers. 

And finally, yes, our old home is completely gone.  It is sad to know that the home we built and lived in for 16 years no longer exists and I feel so sorry for the young couple that purchased it.  I just hope they were either at work or in the shelter when it was hit and that they have a place to go.

I was contacted by the organization that Bailey and I are certified through to go to work with our comfort dogs but unfortunately, Bailey is very small and doesn't tolerate the heat well so she was not able to help at this point as all their work was outside.  We did, however, go to the hospital and visit some of the hospitalized victims and their families and had good visits.  Bailey and I actually just sat on the floor in the hallway with one victim's husband and talked for a long time while Bailey lay between us and he was able to pet her.  I am hoping that maybe they will actually get into some of the areas that are inside where workers and victims are coming for assistance which would be a great place for Bailey to work. 

Please continue to pray for everybody involved including all the rescue workers, the insurance people that have showed up in mass and all the volunteers that are working so hard.