Update: Oklahoma Tornado Response

By Stephanie O'Connor

A tornado more than a mile wide with winds over 200 mph roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, May 20, laying down a track of destruction 17 miles long. The storm was rated an EF-5, the highest designation on the Fujita Scale, which rates major storms based on a number of severity factors. Taking a path through the heart of Moore, the tornado directly affected an estimated 13,500 people. Large swaths of the city were completely destroyed and local officials place the number of severely damaged or destroyed buildings at 1,500.

?May 18 to 21 was a period of particularly severe weather in a number of Midwestern states,? said Hope Force Founder/CEO Jack Minton. ?At least 60 tornadoes were confirmed, with several suburbs of Oklahoma City experiencing the worst of the damage. Officials are estimating more than $2 billion in damages as a result.?

On May 19, a violent EF-4 tornado formed around 6:00 p.m. in Cleveland County, southeast of Oklahoma City. With wind speeds from 166 to 200 mph, that storm was the strongest of the day and resulted in significant damage, especially in the town of Shawnee where two people were killed. The nearby communities of Little Axe and Newalla were also severely damaged.

It is in this region east of Oklahoma City where Hope Force is currently at work. ?Although this region was the first to be impacted (on Sunday) by the tornado outbreak, Monday?s tornadoes hit the densely populated town of Moore, which received more extensive damage. It was hard for the first responders from Newalla to be reassigned outside of their community to Moore once the storm went through. There was a sense of abandonment in Newalla because many first responders and disaster relief agencies moved to Moore.?

Hope Force?s assessment team consisted of Jack Minton, Chuck Duby, Joey, and Andrew Bashor. Additional volunteers are arriving daily with more expected in the coming weeks. The Hope Force response will include the application of blue tarps, plywood over broken windows, debris removal and emotional and spiritual care.

The assessment team has already begun tarping roofs and evaluating the extent of the damage caused by the tornado in the Newalla area. The Hope Force team is collaborating with a group from Huntsville, Alabama, which was formed after devastating tornadoes ripped through that area two years ago. Several members of the Huntsville group received assistance from HFI as Reservists served in the nearby town of Harvest following the 2011 disaster. Now made up of 22 volunteers armed with three trucks and trailers, the team is working alongside Hope Force for the third time.

?The group from Alabama was impacted by generosity to the point that they decided to act and form their own disaster response unit,? said Jack Minton. ?They drove through the night after Hurricane Sandy to help, and they worked with Hope Force in Atlantic City. And they?re here now, sending over a crew to help us with tarping.?