Calling all OKCers ... I just want to make sure all of you are OK.

Linda... are you safe?

I have parts of people's homes in my yard, so I will have some clean up to do. The main damage was about a mile from me in the Mid-Del area.

Not sure if my mother-in-law (soon to be) lost her home or not. We tried to get to her but we couldn't get in there last night. When we got home, she was here.

The smell of the gas was terrible, made many sick. The current death count is 40+ and counting.

If this is the storm we are to prepare for, God help us all.

I'll check back later on today, in hopes of finding my newfound friends reply.

God Bless us all!

-- (cannot-say@this.time), May 04, 1999

Answers

cannot-say--please let me know if Linda, or any other Yourdon friend you know, needs help. If you would quickly send an e-mail to Critt at middleground@critt.com, then I'll e-mail you back and we'll establish the connection. (Critt, I hope you don't mind me doing this without asking.)

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), May 04, 1999.

cannot-say@this.time  &  newbiebutnodummy, we are thinking of you both and praying you and your loved ones are pulling through this horrific time.
Please do post this week and let us know you are OKC OK. Hopefully your preps and mental preparedness have given you advantages in dealing with trauma all around.

The direct view you now have of after-disaster will be numb and vivid at the same time, and will not be reflected in the news media. If you ever need to get away from it all during the long haul, you are welcome to come to Cascadia for a bit and stay in our humble abode. Our thoughts are with you ...

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx x

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), May 04, 1999.

Yes, please let us know what Yourdonites in OK need!

-- Libby Alexander (libbyalex@aol.com), May 04, 1999.

Quick Update... Still haven't heard or seen from Linda (newbiebutnodummy). Storms are starting to get bad here, but not quite like last night.

We are opening up our home to a couple of the people from the base that their housing was damaged.

Thank goodness for the supplies. The lamps gave us the light we needed to see with into the wee hours of the morning. Had to wait until the gas smell passed before we could use them.

Gotta try to keep the line open. I'll check back when I can, as the phones aren't 100%.

Thanks for all of your well wishes. Old-Git... I'll try to email Crit when I get a chance. Want to turn the computer off due to the storm.

-- (cannot-say@this.time), May 04, 1999.

Cannot-say--I meant what I said! Might it be possible for you to set up an account at a bank where Yourdonites can send money strictly for our own folks out there? Minimum $5-10, more if people can afford it--would you be wililng to help set it up? I can't imagine something wiping out our hard-gained stash in an instant. Would be too much of a burden on you if we send objects of any kind, besides people might not have anywhere to put it. Money is the best at a time like this. What do you think?

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), May 04, 1999.

cannot-say@this.time,

Be well!

Blessings to all in OK & Kansas & ...

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), May 04, 1999.

Maybe a contribution to the Red Cross would be the best thing at this point...?

-- also scared (in@the.midwest), May 04, 1999.

Old Git

I'm with you......please mail me personally, as would like to be a part of this......like you, I can't imagine being wiped clean at this point in time......

Sandy

-- Sandy Stambaugh (Patches96@worldnet.att.net), May 04, 1999.

Old Git, that's a great idea. I don't have much cash right now, but I will give what I can. In fact, I'm can go to Western Union if the need is very urgent. Keep me informed. As most folks have realized, info@giglobal.com is my real email address. Don't hesitate to use it.

Sincerely, Stan Faryna

-- Stan Faryna (info@giglobal.com), May 04, 1999.

Hello once again,

Thanks for the offers of help, but I would suggest the Red Cross, Salvation Army, or Feed the Children.

I would hate to be responsible for trying to figure out exactly who are the real posters here. There is virtually no way for me to confirm what anyone would tell me.

Best that I could ask, is for your prayers for all of those across this state that have been touched by this storm. It appears that things may be heating up for the eastern part of the state to receive more of what we received last night.

Thanks,

Donna

-- (cannot-say@this.time), May 04, 1999.

Git,

I will e-mail Crit tomorrow when I return to work. Things are just a little busy for the moment, besides internet access at the moment is crappy.

Has anyone heard from Linda (newbie) or Helen? I am worried about them.

Thanks again!!!

Donna

-- (cannot-say@this.time), May 04, 1999.

Donna, sure, perfectly understandable. Sorry, didn't mean to put you on the spot--thought you had personal contact with come Yourdonites there. Maybe if those who wish to help privately rather than through an agency would post their desire to help here, we can work something out in the next few days when the situation becomes a little clearer.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), May 04, 1999.

Old Git,

I'm still in. Please do keep me informed.

-- Stan Faryna (info@giglobal.com), May 04, 1999.

Old Git

i'd like to help also. my e-mail is real, let me know if a legitimate way to direct resources shows up.

-- Cowardly Lion (cl0001@hotmail.com), May 04, 1999.

Old Git,I emailed you today...please place me on your list,too..Cynthia

-- Cynthia Yanicko (yanicko@infonline.net), May 04, 1999.

Great of you all to want to help! Have an idea, will check it out and be back with you all later this evening.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), May 04, 1999.

To help victims, please see:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000nAt

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), May 04, 1999.

I live about 2 hours or so south of OKC. If any logistics problems arise and anyone wants to get anything there I'd be glad to break loose and run it up there. Assuming they're letting "outsiders in".

I'm frustrated that I set here and can do nothing as far a physical help. If any of you in OK need some help let me know - now.

I'll try to watch this thread and you can email me at ol_grey_bear@yahoo.com

I'm going to suggest to all the Texans and others that when we have our get together on May 22 that we all bring something to be sent up to OK. It may be out in the future but, having lived through the devistation of loosing everything you own in a house fire, I know that you need things for months if not years.

OldGit, if you hear anything on the private line would you pass it to my private email? thanks,

-Greybear

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), May 05, 1999.

What a lovely thought and a great idea, Greybear. I'll send a copy of your post to those who contacted me privately and also pass on anything of interest.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), May 05, 1999.

I'm comforted to know that you all were thinking of me. I was stuck in Edmond overnight on Monday night-couldn't get home because the roads were closed due to storm damage. (The Moore tornado had crossed I-35 and had caused great destruction to subdivisions and businesses on both sides of the highway.) Arrived home on Tuesday morning, changed clothes and reported to the local Red Cross chapter in Norman. (I had just last week passed the re-certification for adult CPR and first aid.) I got back home today at 3 pm (I did sleep for a few hours at home on Tuesday and Wednesday nights). This has been my first opportunity to stay at home long enough to post. I get to eat a meal at home tonight; the first meal eaten here since Monday morning. Yesterday I was sent to the WestMoore highschool site to provide first aid to those homeowners injured while they were digging through their "homes." The view was incredible. Houses were reduced to rubble, any belongings that people were loading up were covered with insulation and debris. Any surviving trees were stripped of any leaves or small/medium sized branches-just stubs, basically. There were no shrubs or flowers and in some places, no grass. One couple near the first aid "booth"-my van-were excited because they had found their cat alive. Nevermind that their home had two walls standing (pockmarked by shrapnel) and that the rest of their belongings were floating in their pool or laying around the yard. There was a demolished car sitting in their front yard. Their yard had been the envy of the neighborhood according to their neighbors.

The parking lot of the nearby school was filled with cars. Windows were blown out, the cars were crushed and filled with debris. A friend's car was found on top of someone's refrigerator which had been blown out of house. Wood splinters (up to 3' long and 4" around) were everywhere. Two by fours stuck out of the ground where they were stabbed into the ground by the force of the wind. Insulation and wiring was draped on many surfaces. Telephone wires and electrical wires hung from poles on to the ground.

The Red Cross canteen was next to my van and I spent hours handing out food and water. I saw people come up with big shaved areas on their heads and multiple stitches, huge bruises, cuts on faces and arms from flying glass and debris, black eyes, bandaged body parts and I also referred half a dozen people for tetanus shots after they stepped on nails while trying to find belongings in the rubble.

One of the most memorable things that happened was when I was helping a man put together a box of baby foods, diapers, water and food for his family. I helped him carry the stuff to his minivan. He carefully opened the back door (no glass in the van at all), put the food onto the floor board and shut the door back. He very politely thanked me and left. What really got me was that the inside of his minivan was coated in mud and debris. He and his wife and 14 month old boy were sitting in this incredibly filthy van, probably the only 'big' item that they could find intact; their house was most likely in shreds along with the rest of the neighborhood, and he was thanking me for a measly box of food and water. It was all I could do to keep from crying.

Then there was the message board posted in the disaster command center; there were columns for people to leave messages for their loved ones who were listed as missing in case they called. There are several such lists and the disaster teams are trying to compile them so that everyone can be reunited. (There are still 100 people missing.)

We were made to leave the neighborhood at 8 pm when martial law was instated for the night. There was a mass exodus of cars-we handed out water and food as they made their way out of the subdivision. People were so grateful to get it as they headed out to spend their nights in shelters or in the houses of relatives or friends.

The rest of my time I have spent sorting donations of clothing, food and hygiene items. Hours of filling boxes, making sure that canned goods boxes had can openers in them, is there any more soap, deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste/toothbrushes, can we stop to help a social worker who is trying to put together baby items for a homeless mother with a one month old girl, are there any more flashlights and batteries, loading boxes and bags into trucks to be taken to shelters or Red Cross canteens.

All in all, it's been a humbling experience. I'm grateful to God that we were spared (severe storms went through Edmond but no tornadoes) and that I have been able to help in even the measly little amounts that I have. My children were left by themselves during the worst of the storms 'til 11:30 pm. (I was in Edmond and my husband was stuck at work because of the tornado and then took 1 1/2 hours to make the 30 minute drive home.) The kids were safe and for that I'm also grateful. I have my house, my family and more belongings than I need to survive. "Thanks, God" seems so inadequate.

An aside here, I think I saw several items from y2k stashes-pudding canned in the Mormon cannery, bottles of propane and monster-sized bags of rice and beans. I also think that people weren't thinking very clearly about what would be helpful. We got packages of microwave popcorn and coffee beans, to name two of the most absurd items! If people can't even figure out what to buy for a tornado disaster, how will they prepare for intermittent or prolonged power disruptions? Do _you_ know what foods can be eaten cold out of a can? What foods don't require a can opener?

Well, I've driveled on long enough. Thanks for being here. Linda

-- newbiebutnodummy (Linda@home.com), May 06, 1999.

Linda, I just got home from a day at the office, turned on the puter, and saw this thread at the top and opened it hoping you were reporting in OK! Thank God you are all right. You have seen disaster first-hand and can tell us all much about the realities of preparing sensibly. Bless you and get some rest.

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), May 06, 1999.

Linda, what an incredible post! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences. Glad you are ok.

-- lurker (no@spam.please), May 06, 1999.

Linda,

I am so glad that you are OK. I have been so very worried for you as I haven't seen you online.

My MIL lived in the MidDel area. Where she is, there are two houses past hers, then nothing. I keep looking at people going through the splinters in hopes of finding something, anything. The area she was in is under martial law 24x7 due to the destruction. Getting in and out of there even with the proper identification is time consuming. She is very lucky.

I thank you (as well as all the other workers) that have helped everyone. Your giving of your time means more that anyone can express. All that I can say is a simple Thank You.

I know that for me, it is difficult to sleep at night, as when I lay down and shut my eyes, all I see is the same distruction that had haunted me all day long. I know it is probably the same for you. Our community will heal, but it shall take some time.

Again, Thank You.

Donna

ps- Glad that you are OK

-- (cannot-say@this.time), May 07, 1999.

Donna, I'm glad your mil is okay and hasn't lost her house. Those checkpoints have been a pain in the neck but necessary, I guess, to protect what little is left from theft and also to prevent sightseers from gawking any more than they already are. (And my guess is, that the search and rescue teams are still thinking they will find victims in some areas.)

I'm also glad to hear that the missing person's lists have finally been compiled and checked on. Only 8 people were still missing as of this morning.

I'm taking the weekend off to try to catch up at home; I figure that people who are off for the weekend will turn out in welcome droves. I'll go back Monday, back to sorting donations and whatever is there to do.

I have several images that come readily to mind-the family with the slimed van I mentioned above; a woman with a terribly blackened eye and bandaged right arm and hand who was wandering around the First Baptist Church; a horizon view of stubby trees, rubble, and the devastated high school in the background with all those smashed cars (normally, you wouldn't be able to see the school at all); and numbers of bulldozers gathering huge piles of debris on both sides of the highway-that debris had been houses, businesses and cars just 4 days ago.

I don't watch the news normally but I do read the paper and I just try to read for information and block out the emotional stuff because if I spend too much time thinking about it, I lose function. (From experience I have learned that I need to let myself grieve a little at a time and repeatedly so that I'm not overwhelmed.) The OKC paper is starting to provide obituaries like they did after the bombing; reading about the 1 month old boy who died was a real heartbreaker.

What a life-changing thing-seeing the suffering and devastation puts things into a different perspective. (I tried to read posts today but got disgusted at all the name calling and bad mouthing-why can't we just stick to the important stuff and overlook the pettiness?) At my house, that much rudeness gets you sent to your room-that's _after_ you do a chore (usually, cleaning the bathroom!)

Alas, again I have rambled when what I meant to get across is: I'm glad for your mil (and you), let's not take what we have for granted, and be sure to let those you love know it. Linda

-- newbiebutnodummy (Linda@home.com), May 07, 1999.

Linda,

I've only been lurking/posting here a couple of months but I've enjoyed your posts and am glad to see your post here, that you and your family are okay.

cannot-say--The same goes for you too. This is kind of like a GI family, can't afford to lose any members!

mb in NC

-- mb (mdbutler@coastalnet.com), May 07, 1999.

Linda, thanks for posting as quickly as you could. Still vividly remember working after Hurricane Camille in 1967. . .

Have you been in touch with Greybear? Greybear listed his e-mail address above:

ol_grey_bear@yahoo.com

As you see, he wants to bring some useful stuff up to OK area, from himself and others--maybe you could help him decide which items are priority and where best to take them.

Greybear, I still want to send you a donation--please e-mail me privately with an address to send it to.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), May 07, 1999.

Old Git (oh, how I cringe as I call you that, my mother would have had a fit!)

Thanks for the concern, it's always good to read your posts.

I've e-mailed Greybear to see if he is indeed headed this way after the May 22 meeting. If he comes I hope we can get together. Linda

-- newbiebutnodummy (Linda@home.com), May 07, 1999.