Devastation in Oklahoma

Yesterday afternoon an enormous (atleast an F4) tornado hit Moore, Oklahoma and the surrounding areas. There were multiple reports saying that the tornado was over a mile wide with winds up to nearly 200 mph. Several schools were hit and as of this morning, there have been over 20 deaths and 200+ injured. They are still searching for people in the rubble and expect the death toll to rise as the day continues.


Watching the footage of the elementary school that was completely destroyed was very difficult. They were pulling children out from under cars that had been smashed into the school. Parents were running down the streets after it passed, screaming for their children that were trapped in the school ahead. My heart goes out to everyone in Moore and the surrounding cities, you guys have been through so much. In May of 1999, Moore was hit with an F5 tornado, the strongest ever recorded with wind speeds of 318 mph. This storm killed 36 people and leveled entire subdivisions. We Oklahomans are resilient, but this storm seems different, maybe because of the schools that were hit.

 



 

I've read alot of comments online asking why the kids were in school if we had severe storm watches and why there are not mandatory storm shelters. First, if we let school out every time there was a storm warning we would never be in school during the spring. As far as mandatory storm shelters go, I think that it should be mandatory as well, but we are not a rich state. Our schools are quite poor and can sometimes barely afford to run the air conditioner, let alone dig up a storm shelter. Maybe after this tragedy the state (or federal?) will step in to try to get shelters built so that we can keep our citizens safe.



If you would like to make a donation to help with the aftermath of this storm, I have listed several different relief efforts below.

To make a $10 donation, text REDCROSS to 90999 or text STORM to 80888 (Salvation Army)

American Red Cross Disaster Relief

Salvation Army Tornado Relief

United Way of Central Oklahoma

Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief