Friday, June 07, 2013

Where Were You When...

There are many dates that are permanently a part of your memory. You know exactly where you were and what you were doing the moment you found out about that life-changing event. The most common one of my generation would be September 11, 2001 (I was flipping channels while eating breakfast and came across The Today Show shortly after the first attack). But, I will also never forget May 20, 2013, the day an EF5 tornado devastated the city of Moore, Oklahoma.

The day started out simply enough. I am off work on Mondays and chose not to work overtime after seeing the forecasts a couple of days out. I had been out storm chasing the day before and had decided to stay home on this day. I planned, instead, to go watch storms develop to the west of Norman from a hill on the northwest edge of town in a new residential development. As the morning rolled on, I looked at models and forecasts from the National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center. Storms began initiating early in the afternoon and I started packing up to head out to the hill. Trey's afternoon meeting in OKC had been canceled and he was on his way to meet up and go watch. We got to the hill around 1:45pm with my puppy, Paisley. I set up my tablet to record a time lapse video looking to the west. Trey and I pulled up RadarScope on our phones and watched the storms develop in front of us. There wasn't much to see in the clouds in the distance but we waited. A supercell started to intensify and show signs of rotation west of Newcastle. I started streaming a local news station on my phone and heard frantic calls of an impending tornado development. Within a minute, we saw the funnel cloud form with a tornado appearing a minute later (here's the video from my tablet). The twister rapidly expanded  right in front of us (from EF0 to EF4 in ten minutes according to the NWS report).

apologies for the quality. it's an old camera shooting 4-5 miles away (see more at Google+)
After about ten minutes, the tornado was no more than a large, dark cloud from our vantage point. We quickly packed up our things, grabbed the dog, and headed north. The road was full of traffic from onlookers in both directions. We safely pulled off the road and crossed the street heading to a field where we could see the storm (later measurements indicated we were about 3-4 miles from the tornado). As it once again lacked definition and we knew it was headed toward an urban area, we turned around and headed back to my home to watch the coverage on TV.



I soon realized I didn't have cell phone reception and my replies to Veronica's concerned text messages were not being sent. We got home and I tried to send instant messages via Wi-Fi to Veronica which she didn't receive right away in the basement she was seeking shelter in. My cell phone remained without coverage until sometime in the middle of the night when Verizon was able to get backup towers in place. I sent out a tweet and Facebook status and e-mails to let friends and family know that we were okay. Veronica soon came home and we watched the stunning images of the devastation in Moore. Suddenly, the day was no longer just another stormy day in Oklahoma, but a major event.

After two hours of nonstop coverage and saddening news, Veronica and I couldn't take any more of it and diverted our minds to movies and TV shows. Our church, JourneyChurch.tv, quickly mobilized volunteers and resources through the night and into Tuesday. As I drove to the church to drop off food and some blankets, my eyes filled with tears thinking about those who lost loved ones and those who lost their homes. But they also filled as I thought about the Church coming together to help the community. 

In the coming days, it was difficult to return to normal life while thinking about the gravity of what just happened. But weather continues around the world and life goes on as normal for us, by the grace of God. But May 20th is certainly a day that I will never forget.

Journey Church has not stopped helping those in Moore recover from this tragedy. To see how you can volunteer or donate to the efforts, helpMOORErebuild.com is the place to go.

For my wife's account of the day's events, check out her blog post at Passion, Pink, & Pearls.

No comments: