Last week’s tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, ended two dozen lives, destroyed 12,000 homes and businesses, injured 300 people, and did millions of dollars in damage. But as volunteer managers Rich and Pat Grasman made their way through the rubble and debris to talk with survivors and meet with organizers, they observed that while life in Moore “changed fast, strong love lasts.”
 
The Grasmans work with World Renew Disaster Response Services (DRS) in early assessments, meaning that they are often driving into disaster areas while others are trying to get out. Over the weekend, the couple met two families that lost everything to the storm. They were just a few of the many survivors who were searching through the debris where their homes once stood, looking for the valuables and mementos that make up the important moments in our lives.

Colleen and Gene Perdue rode out the storm in the hallway closet of their home on the west side of Moore. Gene, who was watching the tornado approach from a living room window, made it to safety with about thirty seconds to spare. The couple hung on to each other and prayed as the tornado roared around them. They were certain they were about to die.

When the wind and noise stopped and they realized that they were okay, Gene and Colleen looked up to see the sky above the two-foot by two-foot closet where they stood: the tornado had completely ripped off the roof of the house.

Pat and Rich Grasman talked with the couple as members of the Perdue’s church helped them look for their keepsakes and photographs, including jewelry and a cross that Colleen made. When she recovered them, Colleen said, “I now have every material thing I need.”

In a rural area further west of Moore that was also in the tornado’s path, the family of Johnnie Brown, a widow who owns a water garden supply business, was helping her remove debris and dig up some of the flowering bulbs from her yard.

“My father named me Johnnie so I would be tough,” she said. Johnnie lost both her home and her business in the tornado, which pulled the water from her pond and took with it her stock of goldfish, koi, and water plants. Her chickens and egg-selling business were also gone along with her home.

The Grasmans noted that Johnnie epitomized the name her parents gave her, and she was depending on God to see her through. “People have been real good to me,” Johnnie said thankfully.

As World Renew volunteers like the Grasmans continue to connect with the residents of Moore, they will work to coordinate their assessment results. With local and national organizations, World Renew DRS will help determine a longer term response that gets real, direct help to survivors like the Perdues and Johnnie Brown who are most in need of it.

World Renew seeks out those who are elderly, disabled, without insurance, or otherwise unable to recover from a disaster on their own. Our 3,000 trained, dedicated volunteers provide assessment, rapid response, rebuilding, and reconstruction assistance to homeowners and other survivors who are recovering from a disaster. Your gifts make this work possible. 

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