"The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management reported that 25 people killed (with another indirectly), an estimated 1,150 homes were destroyed, and an estimated $2 billion in damages. The number of injured was 377. Most areas in the path of the storm suffered catastrophic damage. Entire subdivisions were obliterated, and houses were flattened in a large swath of the city. The majority of a neighborhood just west of the Moore Medical Center was destroyed. Witnesses said the tornado more closely resembled "a giant black wall of destruction" than a typical twister. Among the hardest hit areas were two public schools: Briarwood Elementary School and Plaza Towers Elementary School. At the latter school, 75 children and staff were present when the tornado struck. Seven children died at Plaza Towers Elementary School. Moore Medical Center was heavily damaged, but no injuries were caused. Staff had to relocate 30 patients to a hospital in Norman and another hospital. Part of Interstate 35 was shut down due to debris that had been thrown onto the freeway. On May 21, Moore still did not have running water. There were more than 61,500 power outages related to the tornado. More than 100 people were rescued from the rubble on May 20."
Today, after a morning of orientation and then sorting clothes at a Seventh Day Adventust disaster relief agency, we went to the neighborhood where the May 20 tornado hit. It was also the neighborhood in which the school where the seven children died was. The scene we witnessed was one a handful of people at our church are becoming familiar after tornadoes hit Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Joplin, Missouri. Many homes were completely gone and many others in various stages of restoration. Our job was to be scouts talking to neighbors about their needs for which volunteers can help. Our group got to hear a handful of stories about the six minutes of living through the F-5 tornado. Two people described it as "like a jet engine right over us." It is clear that nearly three months after the storms, the lives of everyone are still affected, not just the people who were in the path of the tornado. Everyone talks about where they were when it hit, everyone talks about the impact and aftermath of the storm, and the whole community is still trying to rebuild their individual and collective lives.
The Internet is down here where we are staying so updates are likely to be slow in coming.
All is well. God is good.
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