1 of 3
Wikimedia Photo
Moore Tornado Radar
A weather radar image of the storm system that produced the devastating Moore, OK, tornado on May 20.
2 of 3
Photo courtesy of St. Andrew United Methodist Church
Bennett Family
Pastor D.A. Bennett with his wife Robin and children featured today on NPR’s Here and Now. “As people of faith, we do not grieve without hope,” Bennett said. “We’re going to walk together through this. It is not something you can walk through alone.”
3 of 3
Photo courtesy of the Rev. Randy Shrauner
Pet shelter
From left, siblings Taylor, Haylee, Clayton and Zane Chiarello grin with their pooches after the storm.
Wild, wicked weather struck the nation's midsection over the past 10 days, with devastating tornadoes in Central Texas and Oklahoma killing dozens and obliterating property.
A Habitat for Humanity community known as Rancho Brazos was flattened May 15 when a category EF-4 tornado swept through the neighborhood south of the Central Texas town of Granbury about an hour southwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Five people were killed and dozens injured by the twister, which reduced the closely knit neighborhood to kindling.
The Rev. Laraine Waughtal, Central Texas Conference disaster response coordinator gave the following update May 21 via the conference website:
Today we had 26 Early Response Team members on the ground (or on a roof) working to clear the debris field. I have been to a number of disaster zones now but this is one of the most dangerous I have seen. The F4 tornado did its damage destroying the homes and dreams of so many people. Trees were stripped and twisted and broken in ways you cannot imagine. Sharp tin which can cut you badly in a second is everywhere, not to mention all the nails and glass and other objects that cause harm. We have even seen a couple of snakes making a new home out of the debris.
We worked on a number of homes that suffered great damage and had debris piles higher than the home itself. Belongings from their homes and unknown neighbors littered the area. We are working hard to salvage those personal items. Crews worked long areas making homes and yards safer. We also helped Acton UMC clean up the community center they own in the Rancho Brazos area. Their building suffered a good bit of damage. Workers cleared up the site inside and out and made it safe. We are also using this place as a hub for our volunteers from which to deploy and to return for some rest.
Two women and a child pulled up to where we were working about mid-afternoon and asked, "Are you the Methodists? We were told you were the ones to ask for help.” While that was quite a humbling and affirming question and statement, it isn’t the first such experience. People have come up and talked to us and shared their stories and cried on our shoulders as we also shed tears with them. As we have done the work you see hope return to their eyes in receiving help and knowing there is a future. There will be a lot of need over the summer to help with repairs and rebuilding. This cleanup will continue for some time and many, many more stories will be shared and made during our time together.
Meanwhile, tornadoes struck the Oklahoma communities of Shawnee, Newcastle and Moore May 18 and 20, with the Moore tornado causing a wide swatch of damage and killing some two dozen people including children at a school. The initial shock at the devastation and death caused by an EF-4 tornado in Moore, a suburb of Oklahoma City, gave way on May 21 to practical advice for United Methodists seeking to respond to the disaster. United Methodist News Service posted a series of articles providing information about the church's response,
The Rev. Richard Norman, the Oklahoma Conference's disaster response coordinator, urged United Methodists in his state to make prayer and cash donations through their local congregations their first responses to the tornadoes. Above all, he cautioned eager volunteers: "Do NOT self-deploy" into the affected area because rescue operations by professional responders were still under way. He said that volunteer mission teams will be organized in the future.
Greg Forrester, the new US disaster response coordinator for the United Methodist Committee on Relief, echoed Rev. Norman's plea. “Well-meaning people who arrive on-scene to help in the immediate aftermath of an event like this tend to get under foot and unintentionally divert important resources. First-responders need time to do the work of locating survivors and securing the area,” Forrester said, work that is still underway.
Oklahoma Area Bishop Robert Hayes told United Methodist News Service that his colleague bishops and others had called him to express their condolences and offer assurances of prayers in the wake of the disasters. “What I would like to say to the United Methodist community and beyond is that we grieve with those who have lost life and property not only in Moore and Newcastle but also on Sunday in Shawnee,” Hayes told United Methodist News Service. “These storms have devastated our state and have inflicted tremendous loss on our people … and just affected lives in ways we can only imagine. ... “This is not a one-day or two-day headline event. This will affect people’s lives for the rest of their lives. We are prepared for the long-haul.”
The need for prayer was underscored by the Rev. D.A. Bennett, pastor of St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church, one of the local congregations who opened their doors to disaster victims. Rev. Bennett was one of the anxious parents with children in South Moore High School waiting to hear if his son had survived the May 20 tornado. Even as he learned of his child’s safety, he grieved for parents that lost children in the deadly storm.
Rev. Bennett said he stood outside his church as the tornado touched down blocks from his house and from the elementary schools where his two younger daughters were. As soon as it passed, he raced to get his wife and daughters and they headed for the high school to get their oldest son. They were unable to get to the school but later a bus brought the students to St. Andrew’s.
When asked what he would ask people to do, he said pray. “Do not underestimate how desperately we need prayers.” St. Andrew’s scheduled a community prayer service at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21, in their worship center.
Finally among the UMNS offerings on May 21 was the hopeful story of how United Methodist Church of the Servant has sheltered both people and pets after disasters since 2006. The storm refugees are sheltered in the church's 40,000-square-foot basement whenever dangerous storms draw near. “Pets are such a big part of our people, our congregation and our community’s lives,” said the Rev. Randy Schrauner, the congregation’s executive minister. The church hosted about 250 people and their four-legged friends on the night of May 19 during the storm that ultimately produced a tornado in Shawnee. The church is about 25 miles north of Moore, so it hosted only a few people on the afternoon of May 20 when that tornado cut its devastating path.