Tradegy in Moore, Oklahoma

[Mhayes]

Hi Everyone,

As you probably know by now Moore, Oklahoma was hit by a F-4 (may go to F-5) tornado that destroyed whole neighborhoods, schools, hospitals and the list goes on. This happened around 2:30 pm CT and resident had about 30 min warning. The sad part is that it hit at a time when people were at work and schools were in session. Right now there are 51 deaths (7 children) and 24 children unaccounted for. Unfortunately the count is bound to go up as first responders look for survivors.

I was going to post some links showing the disaster scene and for some reason I couldn't do it as I felt like a person who comes upon an accident and you don't want to be a spectator. In the coming days and weeks, there will be postings of the damage, but for now I wanted to wait.

OPR will be there for the people hit by this tornado, but we will be on the sidelines offering help until the time comes when we can go in and help. For those of you who know relatives or friends in the area, please tell them of our service and also how to take care of their photos. The saddest part is that a tornado of this magnitude is going to scatter photos hundred of miles away.

Margie

[Candice]

Margie, this page was started on FB yesterday.  It will give people an idea of what is going on.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/MAY192013OKTORNADODOCSPICS/

Also you can see some of the pictures coming out of Moore here:

http://cdn.newsok.biz/gallery/6028703/pictures/2095163

Our home received large hail but the tornado didn't shift towards us.  However, it wasn't far away from us and I could hear it. 

This is a picture from the back of my home.



I've already mentioned you once today and will keep mentioning you.  There are pictures being found as far away as Arkansas right now.  No telling where they will show up. 

I'll keep you in the loop and you keep me in the loop. 

Hugs,
Candy

[Sloop]

This disaster is tragic and heartbreaking.

My thoughts are with those affected.

Marty

[mark_webster25]

Thank God you are safe.  I just found out from my parents that I have a cousin that lives in Oklahoma.  I also had a cousin that lived in New Orleans during the Katrina disaster.

Mark

[Mhayes]

Candy,

Happy to hear you and your family are safe! From what you have described, the tornado was too close for comfort when you are able to hear it.

Every disaster is so sad to see the aftermath, but watching the news last night and hearing about the children broke my heart. It's not that I place value of their lives over the others, but they were so young and helpless. Words cannot begin to express how tragic this is.

I will keep you in the loop and intend to have any news both on the forum and OPR's Facebook page. For those of you on Facebook, but not OPR's--go to our homepage and click on the Facebook link.

Margie

[Candice]

Most of the pictures aren't workable to get off the net.... but I have managed to be able to do 2.   It just happens that the people that posted them did a good job of taking a picture of them and/or scanning them. 

And yep, too close for comfort.  I don't have a safe room so if it would have come this way, I wouldn't be typing this.  But for the grace of God... go I. 

Am helping where I can, even if it's keeping people in the loop on FB. 

Thanks Margie.  You're awesome.

[glennab]

Candy, I'm so glad you're safe.  That's quite a photo you captured.

I've watch CNN off and on, but this afternoon I had to turn it off, because the devastation is too heartrending.  One beautiful thing I saw and posted on my FB page was an elderly woman who'd been in her bathtub with her little dog.  She was okay, but she hadn't found her pup.  As she was being interviewed, the dog poked his nose out of the debris, and the woman was able to pull him out and give him the love he so deserved. He looked as if he hadn't been hurt.  Many small miracles come out of such horrendous grief.  We have to look for those precious things.

At least we at OPR know that we have a profound way to help when the time is right.

Maybe there'll be a central location for people to leave photos they've found, as there was in Joplin, where there was also a huge scattered debris field.

My heart goes out to everyone who was affected by this mega-tornado.  Bless the first-responders!

[Mhayes]

I talked to Thad Beeler today and you may recall he was in charge of Lost Photos of Joplin at the Baptist Church in Carthage, MO. Later he and his volunteers would start a nonprofit with a name similar to ours: National Disaster Photo Rescue (NDPR). While similar we are different, but yet we compliment each other in our goals.

http://www.nationaldisasterphotorescue.net/
http://www.nationaldisasterphotorescue.net/operation-photo-rescue/

NDPR will be helping those in Oklahoma start up the same system they had in Carthage, The good thing is that the learning curve will be easier now. OPR will be involved with NDPR and I look forward to us working together.

While talking to Thad I asked him if he thought this effort would be bigger than Joplin and he said much bigger. The sad part is knowing that so many photos have been carried a long distance. The good part is knowing that those that are collected will be dried and cleaned off first.

More news as it comes in.

Margie

[Tori803]

Thanks Margie for the update. It's great that more and more people are becoming aware of the need to act promptly to save photos, and know what to do with them. Perhaps more can be saved.

[dle]

My wife, Jean, and I had the pleasure of working with the OPR crew at the NJ copy run. If you have the opportunity to help out with one of these, I would definitely recommend it. Interacting with the people whose photos we get to restore reinforced for me just how valuable people find OPR's work.

It's great that we'll be able restore photos for so many folks along the NJ coast. But there are many who we couldn't help because they didn't save their photos. Way too often we heard stories that go something like, "Oh, I wish I had known about OPR and that you were coming. My mother cried when we got back into her house and she saw all her photos were soggy and damaged. We didn't know anything could be done with them so we just threw them all in the dumpster."

I know we try to get the word out post-disaster that people should save their photos. We even have information here on how to do it.

I know that local members are working to get the word out in OK right now and that there's some information on the OPR Facebook page. But I wonder if we can/should do better. Are there things we should be doing before the dumpsters arrive so that when OPR folks make a copy run to OK they won't hear the sad story of photos and dumpsters quite so often?

For example, OPR could decide now that it will make a copy run to OK in, say, January. That would make it more concrete whenever we talk about helping in OK. We could put together a brochure specifically for OK with the OPR story and instructions on what to do now. We could get that to the folks who are helping now -- FEMA, the Red Cross, and the various organizations trying to reunite photos and owners. And I'm sure there are many others I haven't thought of.

What do you think?

[Mhayes]

Hi Dave, you have some very valid concerns and suggestions. Believe me, we keep searching for better ways to get the word out. What would help OPR the most is to become better known and things are improving. It also helps to have more volunteers play a more active role. That doesn't mean that everyone has to show up at a copy run. Those who participate on the Forum are usually active in getting the word out.

Let me address a few of your suggestions:

Are there things we should be doing before the dumpsters arrive so that when OPR folks make a copy run to OK they won't hear the sad story of photos and dumpsters quite so often?  

Getting in the news helps, but one media is not the end all and some of the media unless you are actually down there helping---you are not going to get coverage. I have done calls and some times I get lucky. As OPR matures, we start having a network of people that have helped us in past copy runs and we are able to contact again. Case in point: I contacted the AP reporter that covered us in NY and she made contact with the AP in NJ. The biggest help is having OPR volunteers living in or around the disaster site that will pitch in. In Hummelstown, PA, we had Kate Arline walking the neighborhoods hardest hit passing out OPR brochures.

For example, OPR could decide now that it will make a copy run to OK in, say, January. That would make it more concrete whenever we talk about helping in OK. We could put together a brochure specifically for OK with the OPR story and instructions on what to do now. We could get that to the folks who are helping now -- FEMA, the Red Cross, and the various organizations trying to reunite photos and owners. And I'm sure there are many others I haven't thought of.

Right after a disaster such as Moore, OK is hard to set a date, because you really don't know how soon you can go in. Also, setting a date for January is not a good idea because of weather conditions. When part of the group flies in, that could be a disaster in the winter. Also, you want to try to get there sooner than 7 months. Brochures take money and right now we have a great tri-fold brochure that tells the story about OPR. We do encourage people on the ground in disaster areas to print out how to take care of the photos from our website—so both are really needed. FEMA was great in helping us in New Jersey, but they are also careful not to do endorsement. As to the Red Cross—good luck there!! Salvation Army was helpful for us in Hummelstown.

Another thing to consider is that it takes time to find a place to set up where we can have a copy run. It took a long time getting the Home Depot in New Jersey. Usually we try for libraries as they are free for us since we are a non profit. Every disaster is different and you have to be flexible.

Right now there is no way to determine where the location would be for us to hold the copy run in Moore, but we are working with the National Disaster Photo Rescue (NDPR) that will be down in OK within the next weekend or so. They will have our brochures to pass out and we are in contact with several photographers with studios and professors from nearby Universities. Tornadoes like this and the one at Joplin, MO carry a whole set of problems due to photos being scattered so far.

The other problem you will come across is communication. In New Jersey, Mike and Pat Sluder were made aware that some of the residents had moved to other states. Yes, if we could have reached them sooner, but sometimes that is hard to do, especially in areas where they are without electricity for a long time.

Last but not least is the question of funding. Mile Sluder has taken courses on grant writing, but right now the climate is not favorable. Plus, some giving out grants want you headquartered in their state. OPR runs a very tight ship and I am lucky to get enough in donations to cover the cost of two copy runs a year. When I send out a newsletter asking for donations, it is always the same ones that donate. It becomes discouraging that if all of the volunteers during a fund raising would donate $2.00 we would be great shape. Instead only a very small percent of volunteers donate.

Thanks for your well thought out suggestions--keep them coming!

Margie

[Candice]

I talked to Thad Beeler today and you may recall he was in charge of Lost Photos of Joplin at the Baptist Church in Carthage, MO. Later he and his volunteers would start a nonprofit with a name similar to ours: National Disaster Photo Rescue (NDPR). While similar we are different, but yet we compliment each other in our goals.

http://www.nationaldisasterphotorescue.net/
http://www.nationaldisasterphotorescue.net/operation-photo-rescue/

NDPR will be helping those in Oklahoma start up the same system they had in Carthage, The good thing is that the learning curve will be easier now. OPR will be involved with NDPR and I look forward to us working together.

While talking to Thad I asked him if he thought this effort would be bigger than Joplin and he said much bigger. The sad part is knowing that so many photos have been carried a long distance. The good part is knowing that those that are collected will be dried and cleaned off first.

More news as it comes in.

Margie

You've beat me to it... I was just getting set to tell you that has our site posted on theirs:
http://www.nationaldisasterphotorescue.net/operation-photo-rescue/

[Candice]

Hi Dave, you have some very valid concerns and suggestions. Believe me, we keep searching for better ways to get the word out. What would help OPR the most is to become better known and things are improving. It also helps to have more volunteers play a more active role. That doesn't mean that everyone has to show up at a copy run. Those who participate on the Forum are usually active in getting the word out.

Let me address a few of your suggestions:

Are there things we should be doing before the dumpsters arrive so that when OPR folks make a copy run to OK they won't hear the sad story of photos and dumpsters quite so often?  

Getting in the news helps, but one media is not the end all and some of the media unless you are actually down there helping---you are not going to get coverage. I have done calls and some times I get lucky. As OPR matures, we start having a network of people that have helped us in past copy runs and we are able to contact again. Case in point: I contacted the AP reporter that covered us in NY and she made contact with the AP in NJ. The biggest help is having OPR volunteers living in or around the disaster site that will pitch in. In Hummelstown, PA, we had Kate Arline walking the neighborhoods hardest hit passing out OPR brochures.

For example, OPR could decide now that it will make a copy run to OK in, say, January. That would make it more concrete whenever we talk about helping in OK. We could put together a brochure specifically for OK with the OPR story and instructions on what to do now. We could get that to the folks who are helping now -- FEMA, the Red Cross, and the various organizations trying to reunite photos and owners. And I'm sure there are many others I haven't thought of.

Right after a disaster such as Moore, OK is hard to set a date, because you really don't know how soon you can go in. Also, setting a date for January is not a good idea because of weather conditions. When part of the group flies in, that could be a disaster in the winter. Also, you want to try to get there sooner than 7 months. Brochures take money and right now we have a great tri-fold brochure that tells the story about OPR. We do encourage people on the ground in disaster areas to print out how to take care of the photos from our website—so both are really needed. FEMA was great in helping us in New Jersey, but they are also careful not to do endorsement. As to the Red Cross—good luck there!! Salvation Army was helpful for us in Hummelstown.

Another thing to consider is that it takes time to find a place to set up where we can have a copy run. It took a long time getting the Home Depot in New Jersey. Usually we try for libraries as they are free for us since we are a non profit. Every disaster is different and you have to be flexible.

Right now there is no way to determine where the location would be for us to hold the copy run in Moore, but we are working with the National Disaster Photo Rescue (NDPR) that will be down in OK within the next weekend or so. They will have our brochures to pass out and we are in contact with several photographers with studios and professors from nearby Universities. Tornadoes like this and the one at Joplin, MO carry a whole set of problems due to photos being scattered so far.

The other problem you will come across is communication. In New Jersey, Mike and Pat Sluder were made aware that some of the residents had moved to other states. Yes, if we could have reached them sooner, but sometimes that is hard to do, especially in areas where they are without electricity for a long time.

Last but not least is the question of funding. Mile Sluder has taken courses on grant writing, but right now the climate is not favorable. Plus, some giving out grants want you headquartered in their state. OPR runs a very tight ship and I am lucky to get enough in donations to cover the cost of two copy runs a year. When I send out a newsletter asking for donations, it is always the same ones that donate. It becomes discouraging that if all of the volunteers during a fund raising would donate $2.00 we would be great shape. Instead only a very small percent of volunteers donate.

Thanks for your well thought out suggestions--keep them coming!

Margie

Though it may be a while before you can come to OK, in 4 days they have gone from search and rescue to search and recover and now they are beginning to clean up the debris.

There was one funeral held today for a little 9 year old girl and more to come on Saturday.  Sunday there will be a Memorial for all the families throughout Oklahoma that lost someone.  I believe that President Obama is suppose to attend this.

You'd have to live here to know the outpouring of support and supplies that are coming through.  Long after we're out of the news, we'll be working to rebuild. 

We had storms all this morning but around 1:00PM the sun came out and I headed to the grocery story.  It's located 2 miles north of where the damage is, so it was quite busy but let me tell you, people has the best attitudes.  We'd talk in the isles as if we'd known each other for years.  It's amazing really. 

Am I proud to live here?  Yes.  Bet you couldn't tell.  ;)