This week in Oklahoma

Wow! That is the only word to describe this week. Sunday evening a tornado struck southeast Edmond, Shawnee and the surrounding areas. Edmond is the suburb directly north of okc. Shawnee is located east of the metro. Monday morning my office closed down around 11 in anticipation of bad weather
Around 2 tornado sirens started going off and I started to watch the newscasters. The long version of the story can be found pretty much on any news website. The short version is that a tornado was on the ground for roughly an hour in the Moore area (south okc). Here is a picture snapped by my friend Megan in the early parts of the tornado on the ground.


We are so fortunate to not be near the destruction. Monday evening I got over a hundred emails from fellow employees showing concern for other employees that live in Moore and offering suggestions for help, etc. Tuesday morning we showed up to work and were told (with supervisor approval) we were welcome to let our hearts choose how much we needed to help. So wonderful and so amazing. A group of us drove down only to find out they were overwhelmed with volunteers (a good problem to have) and were turning away people without Red Cross certification (personal note to sign up for Red Cross training). Several hours later (traffic was a nightmare) we made it to a church to help pack meals for volunteers. Around this time it was raining like crazy. During all the driving we were able to see some of the devastation. It was unimaginable.
Sometime yesterday water services were restored and we heard of a need in Moore that we would be able to aide. A huge group headed down this morning to help clean up at Southgate Baptist Church and the attached cemetery. There are no words to describe the scene. Here are some pics of the neighborhood adjacent to the cemetery.











Wow! Here's a sample of what the cemetery looked like pre-volunteers.


Grass was literally ripped out of the ground. This is a mixture of wood bits, shingles, siding, tree branches, mud and pretty much anything you could find in a misc drawer in your house. We found pictures, letters, game pieces, dishes and clothing. Here is an envelope I found.


The postage mark on this is 1990 and it was sent to someone a part of operation desert storm. Unbelievable!
Hold your loved ones extra close tonight.