Lending a Hand

[Oscar Mike]

I had the honor of going down to Moore, Oklahoma with one of my church's response teams to assist with cleanup. My team was assigned to help out a young couple and their neighbor.

We arrived Friday morning. The damage pattern was similar to the '99 tornado, which I covered as a photographer for the Tulsa World. There would be signs of roof damage and within a block more and more severe damage until you got to ground zero where houses were completely destroyed and vehicles were tossed around like Hot Wheels toys.

It was back-breaking work, but it felt great to help people out. Tyson Food and the Salvation Army came by and fed us. We even had a CVS team swing by to give free tetanus shoots.

We came across one young lady who had lost everything. The only thing she wanted to find was her grandmother's jewelry box. Her house and brand new Camaro were flattened. Then, minutes later, she found it. It was awesome.

While the rest of the crew were taking a well-deserved break, I came across an elderly Vietnam War veteran and helped him gather his salvageable belongings into his pickup. He told me, as he was fighting back tears, the only thing he wanted to find was his cat, Leroy Brown. He had found him following the '99 tornado. He said he'd give anything to find his cat.

We did what we could, but it's going to take months to clean up this disaster. It's just hard to fathom the force that could do this kind of destruction. And, having been there, I was amazed and thankful that no more than 24 lives were taken. If this had happened 50 years ago, the toll would have been in the thousands.

I've included some photos I took from our mission.

[montanadave]

Remarkable photos. They do an excellent job of capturing the utter devastation left in the wake of that tornado.

Thanks for sharing them here and, more importantly, thank you for your efforts on behalf of the victims.

[juliomorris]

My sisters house was hit but luckily not to bad. Another bit of luck was she had just bought a new house west of moore and was there getting the cable hooked up when the storm hit, she actually watched it build and touch down. I went up monday night so we could secure her old house and move the majority of her stuff. She only last 1/4 of her roof and 5 windows. I tarped the roof and boarded up the windows tuesday and moved her wednesday.

They had alot of security out which was a pain but it was good to see. We did have an incident wednesday with possible looters. Luckily the cops were close.

[flyfishnevada]

I'm not sure even those photos tell the whole tale. Something tells me you need to be there to really understand. Thank you and your church for doing that. Every little bit helps.

[texasgunhand]

After going through the Bastrop complex fire and losing 1700 homes in one shot,Seeing this made me want to cry.

There is no way of explaining the feeling of loseing everything.Then comes the clean up, OMG what a nightmare! Then the lovely Ins.companys that take their sweet time in paying you. But God forbide you ever miss a payment to them. A year and a half, and life here is just coming back to normal. Some things you never forget..

The heat down South is killer I would go get a bag of water shot up my arm about every 2 months to keep from dying when its 110 deg. and no shade. From doing the clean up and rebuild by myself. When something like this happens you learn two things real fast. 1. Who your friends are. I found out that i have none and 2. Dont sweat the small stuff in life, its not worth it. It can get really bad in a matter of 10 mins. So when you have a flat in the morning just change it..lol

Thats the ONLY good thing about fire,you just need to shovel about 80,000 pounds of crap.With floods etc. you have to pick up everything,you have to wear a mask which fills up with sweat becouse everythings toxic.What a pain in the behind. Thanks for helping those people.Take it from me. They will never forget you, and your help and kindness.

[ST911]

OP- Some folks I know are headed that way to support cleanup and recovery work. They are regular good-hearted folks on mission trips, not professional rescuers. They will have a support structure in place there and some packing lists to work from that are typical for the work. Anything they're apt to need that's not on the list(s), they should bring extra of, or is unique to the area? Other advice?

Thanks in advance.

[texasgunhand]

May i suggest taking extra gloves for others. They go fast you cant get enough of them. Also watch for snakes in the rubble they have no home either as do small rodents the snakes eat.

Some form of shade to get outa the sun since theres no trees, this sucks during the summer. Also extra lawn chairs to sit down on. Its getting very hot already this year. Southern sun and humidity will kill you like the snow and cold up north. Hope any of this will help you..

[SeriousStudent]

Oscar Mike, bless you for what you have done to help those folks.

Our church has been going down to West every other Sunday to help feed people. It's humbling to work in a scene of devastation like the one you helped with.

[Moose-Knuckle]

I had the honor of going down to Moore, Oklahoma with one of my church's response teams to assist with cleanup. My team was assigned to help out a young couple and their neighbor.

Our church has been going down to West every other Sunday to help feed people. It's humbling to work in a scene of devastation like the one you helped with.

My hat is off to both of you gents that help these folks out in their time of need.

I watched a very humbling interview the other day of some Hurricane Sandy victims that made the journey down to OK to help the victims in Moore. They were still living out of hotels themselves, seven months after they lost their homes in the NE.

[Grand58742]

OP- Some folks I know are headed that way to support cleanup and recovery work. They are regular good-hearted folks on mission trips, not professional rescuers. They will have a support structure in place there and some packing lists to work from that are typical for the work. Anything they're apt to need that's not on the list(s), they should bring extra of, or is unique to the area? Other advice?

Thanks in advance.

Not the OP, but some items I've found helpful so far:

Good sturdy boots, preferably with a shank, good quality full leather gloves and a spare set, water source like a Camelbak is helpful, but generally there are roving teams handing out water or Gatorade, good hat and sweat rag, long sleeve work shirt is helpful for clearing some of the hateful trees that tend to scratch you up pretty good (don't ask how I found out firsthand). Maybe like a uniform top if they have it.

But one thing to mentally prepare them for is the unbroken spirit of the people affected in the tragedy. Many if not most will politely decline help at first with a smile. Tell them not to be discouraged as this place isn't anything like NOLA with "victims" holding their hand out and expecting to watch everyone do everything for them. The Okies out here are very proud and not used to accepting help. Sometimes a little persistence is needed especially in the Harrah, Newalla and Shawnee areas. People will be grateful for the help, but will not ask for it.

Please thank those that are helping out. Folks like that have been a godsend.