Disaster Relief

Have you ever looked into the eyes of a person that has lost everything? A person that lost  his home, his most prized possessions, his beloved pet, his wedding album,his mother's ring who passed away last month? The tree he planted when his son was born has been uprooted. The mobile home he rented out, which brought him his only income, is wrapped around a tree. His barn was lifted by the tornado and landed on top of his home, crushing it.

I have, and it was by far one of the more difficult experiences in my life. What makes it harder is my complete inability to help out, to make things better, to make this nightmare disappear, to make insurance companies help these people rather than turning them away (one insurance company refused to cover tornado damage because they claim it was wind damage, which the person was not insured for...) Even with all the devastation, I have never seen people face devastation with such strength, such courage, and such a positive outlook on the future.

Shockingly, one of the first things that people ask is not about how we can help them, but how can they help us. "It's Saturday and you're working 13 hours, is there anything you need?" It's a humbling experience to say the least, and it makes me ashamed of all the times I complained about petty things. It really puts life in perspective, makes the things that are truly important shine through. These people had their homes destroyed, but all of them are so grateful that their loved ones are safe, because not everyone was as lucky. In this time of need, we have been welcomed with nothing but kindness and gratitude.

Before my arrival on disaster, I thought the biggest challenge was going to be the long hours. Today is our 12th day in a row of working 12-13 hours a day, but my physical exhaustion has been completely put on the back burner. The biggest challenge is the emotional difficulty I am having, because my empathy has once again proved to be my downfall. There have been many times when I teared up when hearing victim's stories, but the notion of remaining strong for them is slowly starting to seep in. I feel so incredibly blessed to be a part of this experience, and I ask that you keep the people of Oklahoma in your thoughts.

Casey and I assisting tornado victims in El Reno, OK.
The El Reno tornado was the largest recorded in history, 2.6 miles across.

Moore, OK Tornado: May 21, 2013

"On the afternoon of May 20, 2013, an EF5 tornado, with peak winds estimated at 210 miles per hour, struck Moore, Oklahoma, and adjacent areas, killing 23 people (and an additional person indirectly), and injuring 377 others. The tornado was part of a larger weather system that had produced several other tornadoes over the previous two days. The tornado touched down west of Newcastle at 2:56 p.m., staying on the ground for 39 minutes over a 17-mile path, crossing through a heavily populated section of Moore. The tornado was 1.3 miles wide at its peak. Despite the tornado following a roughly similar track to the even deadlier 1999 Bridge Creek-Moore tornado, very few homes and neither of the stricken schools had purpose-built storm shelters," (Wikipedia).

None of the images of tornado damage are my own - for obvious reasons, we have been asked to keep the photos we take in the disaster zone to a zero.

May 21, 2013 Oklahoma Tornado Path

Having been born and raised in Russia and spending the last 12 years of my life in New York, I have never experienced a tornado. I saw one once while on vacation in Pensacola, FL., but it was small and touched down on water. Aside from watching dozens of videos and looking through hundreds of pictures of the devastation, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I expected it to be bad, but in reality it was much, much worse.

We left Denver early on Memorial Day, and made our way to Kansas where we spent the night. A very stormy, windy night, but I suppose that comes with traveling through "tornado alley." We made it to Oklahoma City the following day, where we had to study up on FEMA's disaster relief course. I do have to mention here that as far as housing on disaster relief goes we got EXTREMELY lucky - Oklahoma University agreed to house volunteers in their honors dorms, give us access to all of their facilities (HUGE gym included, score), and feed us.

Honors dorm at Oklahoma University

The following morning we began with 6:30 a.m. breakfast followed by a 7 a.m. brief. For the first few days I was assigned to work at a donations warehouse on the Shawnee Absentee Tribe land, coordinating volunteers, unloading 18 wheelers full of donations that came from as far as NY (it was amazing to meet the FDNY disaster response team who was also one of the first teams to respond to 9/11), and sorting through piles and piles of donations. Clothing, toiletries, canned goods, baby items, medical supplies, the list is endless. Seeing a community come together after a disaster, neighbor helping neighbor, asking for nothing but a smile in return was truly touching. People drove from different states and set up tents on warehouse property just to be able to help out. I feel so fortunate to be a part of this experience.

Donations warehouse, Shawnee Absentee Tribe land

FDNY and fellow New Yorkers in Oklahoma!

Lunch is served, courtesy of the American Red Cross