My Experiences in OKC, May 2013 by Capt. Kelly Durant

My Experiences in OKC, May 2013

by Capt. Kelly Durant

There was only 16 minutes to be ready for the tornado. What could you do with so little time?

Here are some thought provoking stories shared: Ask yourself, are you so thoughtful of others to do the same as some of these people in OKC?

I lost count of how many people told stories of how they offered to take their neighbors into their very small storm shelters and that is what saved their lives. Imagine about 9 or 10 people in a 6 by  8 foot space. The noise and vibration was as strong as being a few feet away from a freight train. Without concerned neighbors, how many more would not have made it through these horrific minutes?

Those that came out of the shelters came out quite a few minutes thereafter discovering that every thing was churned and mixed into a shredded rubble with only one or no wall of their house standing. Cars were wrapped around trees, or upside down, refrigerators were blown blocks away; few times in history has such wind destruction been witnessed by the EF5, 200+ winds. Most told me that their only thought was, thank God I am alive! With life there is hope of a better tomorrow.

Many people survived by staying in the inner most parts of the home, in the bathrooms, and in the house interior only to walk out and see that everything else had been blown away except the room they were in!

One family down a gravel farm road near El Reno had their mobile home totally blown away across a huge field. I felt pity for them as they had no insurance and 3 kids. My coworker and I searched in the field for a safe the owner claimed had some money in it that had blown away. We did not find it but coworker, Capt. Val Cantu, found one of the kids piggy banks. That made their day and brought a big smile to their faces as we returned it to them.

How does God protect? Here are some stories shared while serving  or doing interviews either counseling or signing up the people for help. 

I heard at least 3 stories of people getting their kids out of the Moore school early for some reason, like to go to the doctor. 

There were a few people who said their older teenagers were on their own home alone and they hid in the bathrooms with mattresses on top of them and they survived. 

There were even those that survived even after getting sucked out of the house by the tornado. One women described how the house was blow away, and she felt the wind suck the clothes off of her body and she was naked but survived. 

One woman  described how she was in the bathroom tub and the house blew way and the tub flew in the air and landed upon a fallen tree. She came down from the tree only needing 15 stitches on her head. 

One woman was sucked out of the house and she pointed out the dint in the jeep where she had hit. She lost her false teeth but did not get any broken bones.

One woman who was trying to get refuge in the Moore IMAC movie theater was outside just one minute before it hit and she felt herself being lifted in the air while running there. Her kids were ahead of her and she yelled to them to run inside anyway and she and them made it in before it hit!

One family wanted to run to the shelter out in the yard outside but it was raining so hard they decided to stay in the bathroom of the house and the tornado blew away the house but they were spared. They went to see about the shelter to find that it was totally full of water, so if they had gone there they would have drown or been forced out to the open and taken away.

Consider this reaction, would you do this?

Many people even with their homes in rubble did not worry for their personal items but immediately started looking for their neighbors and they pulled them out of the rubble. This immediate action got many to the hospitals on time and their lives were saved.

The next day in the rain:

Neighbors a few blocks over not affected by the destruction ran to help others move their rubble into piles so people could save any good items. People and volunteers just came from everywhere in particular from churches and helped everyone sort through items. So many people were out helping that the traffic was crazy for a week!

In the farm areas it was amazing how neighbors came together to help each other and to remove debris.  Those with tractors were pulling trees, young men with chain saws were cutting logs. some people with cow and horse feed were out caring for the animals. Everyone was getting muddy, but no one cared about that, everyone just wanted to see things cleaned up so it would be encouraging g to look at. 

In the end, many people displayed resilience with all the support of family and strangers. 

I was able to serve with the emotion and spiritual care aspect while either out in a van or truck serving food and drinks to those in the affected areas, by distributing food and household goods in the warehouse, or while signing up people to get monetary and clothing assistance. I worked in the neighborhoods and went from house to house on the farms. I served in Moore, Shawnee, Carney, El Reno, and in OKC areas where there was no electricity. Most people were very thankful just for our presence, that we were showing up there to serve them and help. Many people we're anxious to tell us how they survived, but some were quiet. Several people cried telling their stories and we hugged many who welcomed it. I personally was able to pray with about 300 people during my 14 day deployment and my team coworkers prayed with many more making the prayers add up to the thousands! The Salvation Army offering love and prayer was a unique and refreshing ministry considering the fact that the other agencies and insurance companies were only there doing what they do in the business mode. 

What does it feel like to be close to a tornado?

Possibly The Lord wanted all of us who were serving to know the feeling!

A second wave of tornadoes hit Friday and thankfully we had made it back to the hotel. Everyone in the hotel was told to sit in the hallway and wait for the tornado to blow over. On the TV everyone could hear the news of it is getting closer coming east so they said for those in cars to go south, but then it split and made a C shape and those south were going to be hit too. The cloud was coming and our street by I-40 was mentioned as being next. It had not hit the ground in full force but was branching down into 3 separate tornadoes. A few people like myself watched the dark green cloud from the hotel doors until we heard the deep rumble. After the power was cut,  all that could be done was prayer! The thoughts raced in my mind that I needed to tell my family that I loved them before I would get crushed by the hotel rubble the tornado would create. I thanked God that I had had a good life and that I could die serving Him. I looked at the dozens around me nearby, some frozen in fear, some ignorant of the seriousness just chatting away. I was disappointed that I did not see anyone praying out loud, maybe they were inside. This was very real near death experience. I was trying in my mind accept it and just let it be even though my heart was beating harder. 

Experiences like these really make you seek God!