Sarah Franken and I were planning a hiking trip in Isle Royale. We had various maps that we had scoped out, googled everything necessary, and bought some supplies for our adventure.
When we heard of the F5 tornado that had ripped through Moore, Oklahoma on May 20th, we both knew that we ought to change our final destination.
We headed out, not knowing what we would eat, where we would stay, or what we would encounter. We just left, and God totally blessed us while we were there.
If you'd like to see a compilation of photos from our journey, click HERE. (It should work if we're Facebook friends).
Below is a TON of random information from the days that I had time and felt motivated to write during our time in Moore. Feel free to read, but take this as a warning!
May 25 & 26 : Road to Destruction
Once Sarah and I were fully packed and ready to go, we hugged our parents goodbye (many times) and peaced out. Sarah started out driving for two hours and got a little tingly in the leg, so I took the wheel for the next seven hours through the night until we napped at McDonald's parking lot for two hours (sorry to the customers who got to see our beautiful sleeping faces). I picked up the wheel again (I really do enjoy driving) for a few hours, and my partner in crime took the wheel for the last couple hours into Oklahoma. It actually went really well besides my extreme travelling "cankles"... like, seriously, they were horrific. And I totally forgot to paint my nails before we left, and the shoes I wore totally stank, so that didn't help the cause any.
Pointless details.
It was really interesting to see how the traffic flow changed as we got closer to Moore; the number of trailers and moving trucks coming out of the area increased tremendously. You could just tell that people were clearing out as much as they possibly could.
We drove through Shawnee (40 minutes from Moore) and saw some tornado damage. It was devastating; fields and trees were torn up, along with a few buildings. I had never seen anything like it... it was like the movie "Twister" in real life.
Knowing that the worst tornado damage was ahead, I knew that I would have to mentally prepare myself before we arrived.
Our first stop was the City Rescue Mission in Oklahoma City. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting to encounter that many homeless people (which I guess was kind of silly on my part). I was fully excited for the experience of being able to talk with them and live among them, as well as other volunteers that would be staying in the gymnasium with us that night.
Well, the rescue mission wasn't God's plan for us. After scoping it out, we headed to Moore (just 20 minutes south of OKC) to check it out and see what other accommodations we might find there.
When we arrived, we just drove around, aimlessly. It seemed like a perfectly functioning city; people were driving, stores were open... you know, all the usual stuff.
When we saw flashing lights of the patrol cars and piles of rubble beyond the stoplight ahead of us, we knew we had reached the path of the tornado.
It was surreal.
We took a left and drove around, following the path of destruction. I can't even put it in words, so I don't even want to bother trying, but we saw an entire development leveled. We pulled in to check it out, and came across a group of volunteers in red shirts. We asked if we could follow them around for the evening, and that's what we did.
I thought we had reached the worst part of the destruction, just in this development, but I was WAY wrong.
So completely, terribly, utterly wrong.
The red shirt crew brought us to another devastated developmental area, with the same horrific destruction as the last. We learned of a man who came home from Iraq at 9pm the night before we were there. His wife picked up their children (one with aspergers, the other with asthma) from school 20 minutes early, just in time. She got themselves to the storm shelter in their driveway, and they were saved. Their house, on the other hand, was completely destroyed. Their brand new hard-top Jeep Wrangler that the husband purchased for their anniversary with only 750 miles on it... it picked itself up, spun the other direction, and slammed into the back of their home. They have nothing left, but when the brother of the military man told us the story, he was sure to tell us that he was content. He lost his house and his new Jeep, but he has his wife and his children. His brother said that "his children are his world".
This family's story broke my heart. Especially knowing that this was just the first story we would hear in our two-week journey experiencing the devastation of Moore, Oklahoma.
We walked around the area, and I was (and still am) in complete shock. I couldn't believe the damage that a storm of wind could create. It just blows my mind. This was the second development that we saw, and I really had absolutely no idea how these people know where to start, how long this cleanup is going to take, nothing. I had never seen anything like it.
Then a lady from the Mississippi group, Shelby, told us there was even more, and a guy said that what we were currently seeing was nothing in comparison.
What? Seriously?
I couldn't believe anything could be worse until we took that drive over by the school where seven children were killed, where 37 horses of 140 horses were found alive in a pasture, and where hundreds of acres of development was demolished.
Literally, with a glance to the left, you could see across the entire area; not one house or object stood in the way, besides piles of rubble.
That's when I decided, quite boldly, that Moore was currently comparable to Haiti. Quite frankly, I think it's worse than Haiti. Obviously there's major differences, but for these people to go from having a home and a car to having nothing. Having to move out, or live on your front porch with nowhere to go. It's insane. They weren't at all prepared for this.
So we followed those people around, talked with a guy who started a travelling BBQ trailer to help disaster victims, and went to Suburban Baptist Church to stay the night.
Time to head to bed. Super tired. I'll write more for Day 1, Day 2, and the events of Day 3 tomorrow, Lord willing.
Day 2
It's day three now, but I'll do my best to cover day 2 and hopefully get to what happened today.
I woke up at Suburban Baptist church at about 7:15am to get ready to find a place to volunteer. After calling the volunteer hotline at 8am with no answer, we weren't sure what to do or where to go.
There was a young man who I talked with at the church, and he said that he was packaging and giving out food to victims. He told me how to get to the location, probably so that we could get there to help.
Well, that was a major blessing.
We drove, following the directions he gave, and never found it. Instead, we came across Highland Baptist, and noticed volunteers in the parking lot. We were expecting them to be gone soon after 8am after reading on Facebook that they split up and go into the field right at 8am, but they were still there. So we signed up, got a Tshirt, and helped where they needed us. We started out by bagging up toys, and organizing them to give away to infants. It wasn't anything too crazy exciting, but it definitely felt good once it was accomplished.
After that task, we did other random jobs around the church: sorted baby wipes, sorted diapers, all kinds of stuff.
We finally ran into Pastor Ken (the coolest guy ever), and he told us he would take us to the animal shelter. After an hour or two of waiting to leave, we finally did.
Side note: His truck is absolutely amazing. The running board comes down when you open the door, it has the fancy navigation, backing-up video thing, some turbo buttons, and all kinds of fun things. It's gorgeous. (And it's also not his, but that's okay)
We made it to the animal shelter, with some adorable dogs whose owners haven't come to get them yet.
And there was a chicken.
Then we rode with pastor Ken to go find Lowes. Oh, and how could I forget Hugo/Alex/Muchacho?
It's this guy who has been working with Highland Baptist since Tuesday, the day after the tornado. He came up with a group from Texas, and stayed to help after his group left on Saturday. How awesome! He's such a great kid, and just so much fun. He's from Mexico and learned English so that he could make friends... it's working!
Side note: We got to a dead end road with dirt, so Pastor Ken decided to do a little burn-out. It was pretty sweet.
Then we found Lowes, bought a safe, and headed back to the church.
Then Sarah and I were in charge of donations that were going to be dropped off, and picked up by victims. We never had any customers...
Then we ate dinner.
Then Sarah and I had to go to the bathroom. So we went. My phone when off while I was in the stall (sorry if this is TMI, it was just hilarious), so I answered it because I knew it was Jenny from Operation Blessing- aka awesome woman. She asked if I had a pen and paper available to write an address for the church that we could stay at. I told her I didn't, and asked if I could call her back. She said, "aren't you at the church." And so I responded with , "Yeah, I'm in the bathroom". I love telling strangers that I'm talking to them while sitting on the toilet. What a lovely connection we have made in the first few hours of knowing each other.
Luckily, I think she still likes us.
We met up with her, she gave us the address of the church we'd be staying at, and told us to meet her at 7:30pm. We had about an hour, so we thought we'd find Toby Keith's house. That didn't work out, so we drove around the disaster zone for a while until it was time to head out. We got situated at the church.
Then we went to Sonic, right down the road. It was my first time ever. What a fun little place for a lovely root beer float.
It was at Sonic near Moore, OK where Sarah and I discovered that life is good.
What a beautiful thing!
Then we went to Walgreens, showered, blogged, and went to bed. Kind of like I think I'm going to right about now.
Talked to woman about granddaughter who was in the school where 7 children died....
Day 3
Breakfast at Highland
Orientation
Sorted in Warehouse
Rolled up shirts
Cliff asked us what we think the streets of heaven are created from. (3 nails and 2 pieces of wood)
Cliff took us to give food to volunteers, and made us wait forever, doing nothing. We still love him.
Got to the church
Talked to Betty (Reverend person)
Gave chocolate to victims/volunteers/construction workers
Got to our sleeping place.
Now going to bed for real. 11:45pm, and so sleepy. I'll to my best to keep things updated!
I have been SUPER slacking in blog world. So sorry. I think I'm gonna start video blogging... it makes life so much easier.
But for now, I'll keep it old school.
Day 4, 5, 6, 7
Folded Tshirts, drove to take pictures, cleaned up a man's yard, helped with breakfast, all kinds of stuff.
Day 8 - Sunday, June 2
Definitely wanting to stay in OK after my trip to Washington. Maybe find a cheap-ish Christian college near Highland Baptist so I can do go there? Do an internship at the church? I'll be talking with PK (Pastor Ken) later on this week to figure that out.
Today we woke up, went for Starbucks with Morgan, Logan, and Shelby, went to church, drove around with OB leader Jen, went to a church picnic, stopped by Braum's for ice cream, came to the church and did a drink-a-gallon-of-water-in-30-minutes challenge, ate, and blogged. ish. Today flew!
Goals for the upcoming week:
-Work crazy hard at whatever job I end up getting each day
-Talk to Pastor Ken about interning
-Finish up and send application to cousin Jake for WA internship (T-13 days!)
-Make at least one new friend
I never finished! That makes me sad.
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