Rescuing the snapshots of strangers
May 21, 2013, 5:32 AM | Updated: 11:07 am
Two men stand in front of Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., after a tornado destroyed the school on Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Bryan Terry)
(AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Bryan Terry)
Every once in a while nature gives us a reality check.
“There are people just walking. Aimlessly, a lot of them. Many of them have nothing left.”
As they found scattered snapshots even if they were from other families – they would pick them up for safe keeping.
Said one resident, “I feel like I’m in a dream. I can’t believe this actually happened.”
You could conquer terrorism, fix the economy, cure cancer, but what happened in Moore, Oklahoma reminds us that some insecurity will always be there.
“I just couldn’t see anything. It was just really scary. And everybody said, ‘Put your heads down! Put your heads down!’ But some people got hurt. We made it out alive,” said one child.
“When I saw the houses, I just started crying, so hard,” one woman said, as another tried to provide her comfort. “You are never ever going to go through this again.”
“I was on top of six kids,” one women told a reporter.
“On top of six children?” confirmed the reporter.
“Uh-huh. I was lying on top of six children.
“And they’re all OK?”
“All of mine are OK.”
“I had to hold onto the wall to keep myself safe because I didn’t want to fly away in the tornado,” explained a boy.
And you may think you’re prepared but you’re not.
“We were inside the cellar door, we locked the cellar door once we saw it coming, and it got louder,” a man said, his voice still shaking. “And the next think you know, we saw the latch coming undone. We go to reach for it and it ripped open the door. Glass and debris started slamming on us. We thought we were dead, to be honest.”
When you’re facing a tornado, you pray.
“My security isn’t in the things I own,” said another man. “My security is in the Lord. So whatever he does with it, it’s fine. It all belongs to him.”
“How are you doing right now?” asked a reporter.
Said the faithful man, “I’m hungry.”
Read more:
Huge tornado hits Oklahoma City suburb, death toll revised
Photos: Tornadoes tear through Oklahoma
Deadliest US tornadoes since 1900
NWS: Okla. tornado had winds up to 200 mph
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