Tuesday

The OKC Tornado, my daughter and family survived .... Thank you Lord!


 I was watching the news and they put out the Tornado Warning for OKC... so I called my daughter and gave her the warning... "Oh Mom, we always have tornado's here"... she and her Coast Guard husband just moved there from Guam  5 months ago.
We talked for a while then she said "her Coastie came home, he sent all his shipmates home to care for their families" then while we were talking she said,, "Mom the sirens just went off, we need to get the kids in the Safe Place, bye for now.  
Her bedroom closet is a solid steel structure.
With terror I watched all that happened on CNN.    Then Gina called me with terror in her voice and told me of their horrible half hour in the closet.  The sound will never be forgotten along with the crys of her 4 small boys.  They ventured out of the closet,  peeking out the windows and saw the houses across the street, gone.  Her yard totally full of debree.. they could not get out the front door.  
Her house was spared?

"Mom, OKC is gone".... they had all of a 16 minute warning.  They did have a battery radio but had no photos to confirm the devastation.  The street behind them, all homes gone!  The school one block away totally destroyed.   Each new bit of information had her getting more and more shocked.  The Medical Center where her now 2 month old was born is totally destroyed.
We did manage to speak several times but she had to conserve battery power on her cell,  my heart was so grateful they were spared.

Mom we have no electric and don't know what is going on, can you send me photos or videos?  I did, to her cell, from CNN and she was totally shocked...  "I failed my children" she cried to me.  We were told to get underground and I did not know my neighbor had an underground shelter!  If our house was hit, my children!...  I did all I could to calm her but I'm sure her heart is in so much pain and shock.

We have not talked this morning, again I'm sure they are trying to conserve cell battery until they can find somewhere to plug in but I know they are ok... Her husband walked to the school last night and did what he could do to help... This is just horrible. 
And I worried about them while they lived in Guam, earthquakes three times a week.
  
Lord take care of all those poor people who have no homes, and their families are suffering.
"Thank you Lord for sparing my children"


10 comments:

The French Hutch said...

I’m so thankful your children are safe. My heart goes out to all in OK and their loved ones. May you continue to get updates from your daughter and I will pray, and have been that survivors will be found. God Bless.......

~Emily

the cape on the corner said...

oh gosh, sandy, I'm so glad they are ok, but so horrified at what happened around them.

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I'm so glad they are safe. I have family in the path of the storms today. We are still praying! Sweet hugs!

Unknown said...

Wow. I'm so glad your daughter's family is ok. Praying for the victims of this horrible tornado.

Blessings,
Heather

Patricia @ 9th and Denver said...

God is Good in His tender Mercies.
Praying with Thanksgiving for you daughter and her family...praying on behalf of all those who lost so much there.

Pat

Cindy said...

Oh my, the sorrow and pain is just unbelievable, my heart goes out to you and your daughter's family.
I know you were praying for them, and God spared them.
Big Hugs, Cindy (a mother and grandmother)

Meredith @ The Laundry Can Wait said...

I'm glad they are okay, Sandy! I will keep praying for your family here. Moore is about 20 minutes away from my home in Oklahoma City, and we got sirens but no tornado - thank God.

Right now Oklahomans are pulling together like we always do. We call it the Oklahoma Standard.

Praying for your daughter and my fellow Oklahomans. The loss is unbelievable.

XOXO

Pondside said...

Thank God - your daughter didn't fail the children, but kept them as safe as she could - and God did the rest!

Jenny said...

Oh Sandy. I can't imagine this amount of worry.

Sending prayers for your daughter and everyone around her.

Sending a big hug to you, too!

Take a deep breath now.

Stacey said...

Sandy, just last summer we moved from OKC after living there 23 years. It's such an awesome place to live and raise kids. It is safe, people are good, and life is a little slower than most places.

Believe it or not, the months of April and May do have so many tornado watches that people really do get used to it...unfortunately. I can't imagine the terror your daughter and family must have felt during the storm. I really hope they don't experience any more of the extremes there.

My prayers are with everyone in Moore. It's hard not to be there after so many years...we want to help. We are so blessed because our friends and son were safe and sound in Edmond.