Moore Tornado - Clean Up

Loading water onto a trailer to deliver to residents and volunteers

Our clean-up crew (one of many), entering “Zone 2” – the area SouthWest of Telephone Rd. and SW 4th St.

Our task was to walk through the neighborhood to 11th St (7 blocks), then begin working our way back to 4th throughout the day. Simply jaw-dropping, walking through the devastation.

One of the many other-early views I found. The destruction done to trees alone was mind-boggling.

One of the few trees in the tornado’s path that remained up-right. Note the clothes in the upper limbs, and the metal wrapped around the tree at the trunk.

This was an incredibly common scene in this neighborhood: house leveled, car in the driveway looking like it was bombed, and debris throughout the yard.

After a few hours cleaning yards, I took a short walk and stumbled upon a middle-aged woman standing in her front yard. I asked if I could help and was able to pull out several boxes of family photos from the living room. The interior of her house was in tact, but covered with mud and littered with glass and debris. Our team showed up and helped clean up their driveway so they could continue removing keepsakes from the house. Here, my co-worker Steve Mielke prays for the family before we move on.

“For Sale. As is. No warranty. Open floor plan.”

Incredible and encouraging to see this (and other bits of humor) from the residents. These people are incredibly resilient.

While walking the streets, we saw a guy driving around trying to find a specific house. With all the street signs gone, finding addresses is next to impossible. We helped him find the home, where we met up with the home owner, Quinn. We spent several hours removing debris, trying to find family photos and other items of need like medication.

Another shot of the same home from the backyard. The queen mattress from the master bedroom is to the left of Steve Mielke (white hat), and the only remaining room is just beyond that – an interior bathroom with no roof and about 1-2 feet of debris and mud inside.

The first room I cleaned up belonged to their 6-year-old daughter. The family sent her with friends to Dallas because they didn’t want her to see what was left of their home. It was emotional, going through the girls toys and dress-ups, trying to think of how my family would rebound from such an incredible loss.

Panorama of SW 6th St, just West of Telephone Rd (just West of the demolished Moore Medical Center)

Eery to see the remnants of “normal life” – stickers still stuck to the little girl’s bedroom door.

Praise God the family survived. They were huddled into a storm shelter 3 doors down. 12 people rode out the tornado in there. At one point, it took 3 grown men to keep the shelter door from being ripped off its hinges.

Another panorama. This one looking East down SW 6th St towards the Moore Medical Center a block away.