This post is actually quite premature as the true aftermath will last for years. The grief, healing, and rebuilding phases will continue long after most people remember that this tornado even happened to Moore, Oklahoma. But I thought I'd let people know what it's like to live in an area affected.
We live in a neighborhood that has been destroyed on the north end. We luckily built our house on the south end. A walk through the neighborhood last night with the kids shows that every street gets worse than the one before it. It starts with debris filled streets and then slight roof damage and then trees down. Until you get to the street about 9 away from ours.
It is like walking into a third world country. The houses are destroyed. We walked by one house that the whole front is ripped off and you can see an intact china cabinet untouched. There is no front door or windows but a hanging basket with flowers still hangs on the "porch". There are cars parked in what used to be garages. Roofs are thrown into neighbors yards and cars are thrown into houses.
Across the street, a daycare center and doctors office are leveled to the concrete slab as if they were never there. One of the two schools hit is visible from my neighborhood as well and is a heap of rubble. Orr Family farm, a popular site for birthdays and weddings, is destroyed and most of their horses were killed. Paisley just kept saying "these houses are broken". Luckily she thought it was more strange than sad and we have hidden most emotions from her.
Our neighborhood is mostly vacant right now. We are one of only two or three streets that amazingly got power back. So most of our neighbors just left for somewhere else to stay. We have police checkpoints surrounding us on all sides that we have to show our IDs to get in.
And the lines are so long to do so that it has taken no less than 45 minutes and as long as 2 hours just to travel about 10 miles from our house. With 2 kids.
The situation is actually getting worse every day as clean up and rebuilding is already happening. Today, we have only one very bad route of getting out of here. They are reinstalling power lines and have shut us off from leaving except for one street that will be overcrowded and WAY out of the way.
Aaron has to make it to work and I would love to get out of this house. We have zero groceries in the fridge because ours all had to be thrown away from the power outage. And most of our fish in our saltwater tank died. We also lost some of our big koi in the backyard pond that we've had for 6 years. They eat out of our hands so we are very attached to them.
Our area is full of army tanks, emergency vehicles, police helicopters, utility companies and Red Cross vehicles. It feels surreal and scary and foreign. We have a 9 pm curfew to prevent looters. No one in and no one out after that point.
Our drive in or out is through a wasteland. I have to try hard to remember what used to be there and even what street I'm going through. I took a few pictures of the main intersection by my house yesterday and will post them. This isn't the worst of it. I just can't bear to take pictures of the rest.
We live in a neighborhood that has been destroyed on the north end. We luckily built our house on the south end. A walk through the neighborhood last night with the kids shows that every street gets worse than the one before it. It starts with debris filled streets and then slight roof damage and then trees down. Until you get to the street about 9 away from ours.
It is like walking into a third world country. The houses are destroyed. We walked by one house that the whole front is ripped off and you can see an intact china cabinet untouched. There is no front door or windows but a hanging basket with flowers still hangs on the "porch". There are cars parked in what used to be garages. Roofs are thrown into neighbors yards and cars are thrown into houses.
Across the street, a daycare center and doctors office are leveled to the concrete slab as if they were never there. One of the two schools hit is visible from my neighborhood as well and is a heap of rubble. Orr Family farm, a popular site for birthdays and weddings, is destroyed and most of their horses were killed. Paisley just kept saying "these houses are broken". Luckily she thought it was more strange than sad and we have hidden most emotions from her.
Our neighborhood is mostly vacant right now. We are one of only two or three streets that amazingly got power back. So most of our neighbors just left for somewhere else to stay. We have police checkpoints surrounding us on all sides that we have to show our IDs to get in.
And the lines are so long to do so that it has taken no less than 45 minutes and as long as 2 hours just to travel about 10 miles from our house. With 2 kids.
The situation is actually getting worse every day as clean up and rebuilding is already happening. Today, we have only one very bad route of getting out of here. They are reinstalling power lines and have shut us off from leaving except for one street that will be overcrowded and WAY out of the way.
Aaron has to make it to work and I would love to get out of this house. We have zero groceries in the fridge because ours all had to be thrown away from the power outage. And most of our fish in our saltwater tank died. We also lost some of our big koi in the backyard pond that we've had for 6 years. They eat out of our hands so we are very attached to them.
Our area is full of army tanks, emergency vehicles, police helicopters, utility companies and Red Cross vehicles. It feels surreal and scary and foreign. We have a 9 pm curfew to prevent looters. No one in and no one out after that point.
Our drive in or out is through a wasteland. I have to try hard to remember what used to be there and even what street I'm going through. I took a few pictures of the main intersection by my house yesterday and will post them. This isn't the worst of it. I just can't bear to take pictures of the rest.
Crazy and sad. Yes this will take years to repair.
ReplyDeleteHas your mind changed about the storm shelter? I know you said you were going to do it in the next house.
Oh friend, I have been thinking of you guys so much! It is all just so heartbreaking. It's crazy how things can change in an instant.
ReplyDeleteAs if I didn't feel lucky enough, this post makes me feel even more lucky. We are about 3 miles north of where the tornado hit, which still puts us at over a mile north of the damage (since it was about 2 miles wide, give or take). Our neighborhood is still intact, and the worst I've had to deal with is helping friends try to dig through the rubble. My heart really goes out to you and your sweet family. I can't imagine being faced with seeing that every day when trying to get to or from work. I am so glad you guys are OK!! It gives me chills thinking about how many lives are forever changed.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry I am just now commenting. I read both posts a few days ago and have been thinking about you and your sweet family ever since. I am so thankful you are ok, and I am so sorry for your community and the unbelievable heartache that you have been given this week. Hugs and prayers to you!
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry for the devastation that surrounds you. Found your blog through Sarah and am now following along. Sending positive thoughts and prayers your way!
ReplyDelete