Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Newcastle, OK tornado


Most of you may not even know that two days after the F-5 Joplin tornado, an F-4 went through Newcastle, OK. My sister Kathy and her son's family and her daughter's family live only a few miles from the devastation that destroyed this little community south of Oklahoma City.


We left Wisconsin and arrived in Oklahoma three weeks after the tornado hit... and immediately had my sister drive us around to witness the devastation. I can't even begin to tell you how heartbreaking it was to see these images up close and personal. And this was 3 weeks after the fact!


There were no deaths as a result of the Newcastle tornado on May 24th, but these images will forever haunt me. These folks lost everything... but their very lives.


This home was near the school my niece & nephews attend. Because it happened after school hours, over 1500 residents of Newcastle were able to squeeze into the 1000 capacity 'safe room' located within the school. Thankfully only a portion of the school was damaged. The 'safe room' literally saved their lives. Click HERE to see the tornado shelters that many are having built on their property.


This is where my sister's family hunkered down. My nephew's property came with this old storm shelter next to the house and they were able to get 14 family members and 4 dogs underground... and that included my niece's 2 week old baby!




I can't imagine waiting and wondering what they would discover when they came out. Thank God the tornado missed them. But they would soon find out that others nearby were not so lucky.


Let's not forget to keep these communities in our prayers, as they rebuilt their homes and lives. Yesterday as I was searching for a Newcastle link, I came upon a Joplin link that brought me to tears. Please take some time and pray over these stunning images HERE.

2 comments:

Anita Diaz said...

Oh Linda I cannot imagine what these people are having to deal with rebuilding from nothing. It is truly heartbreaking. Your photos are haunting, and I can imagine don't begin to show how horrible it really is. Thanks for keeping people aware that there is a continuing effort to rebuild.

quilting caregiver said...

Hi, my house was heavily damaged in this storm. In your 4th photo, my house is in the background on the left. We are currently living with our daughter and will be until the house is repaired. Thank you for posting photos and for the prayers. I will be glad when the powers that be get a move on and get the trash picked up. Sure will make it look a bit better there.
Sue B.