wfn.org | UMCOR helps tornado-stricken Oklahomans recover

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Nov. 9, 1999  News media contact: Linda Green·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-71BP{600}

NOTE: A photograph is available with this story.

By Boyce Bowdon*

OKLAHOMA CITY (UMNS) - Charlene and Tommy Stone had enough problems before a
tornado destroyed their trailer home.

The May 3 twister that ripped through Bridge Creek, a community about 20
miles southwest of Oklahoma City, literally blew the roof off from over
their heads.

"Seeing a tornado on television is nothing like being in one," Charlene
said.

"My daughter and her two sons were with us," she recalled. "The tornado
picked up our trailer, spun us this way and that, and then slammed us back
down. The first thing my daughter said was 'Momma, God saved us, or we
wouldn't be alive.'"

Today, Charlene also sees God's hand in the work of volunteers from the
United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and other organizations that
have helped Bridge Creek recover. For the Stones, recovery has included the
construction of a new home.

Life was tough enough for Charlene and Tommy before the tornado. They are
both disabled. Tommy has hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, congestive heart
failure and high blood pressure. When he's not in bed, he's usually in a
wheelchair. Charlene has had cancer surgery and is unable to work.

When the tornado struck, it knocked their trailer from its foundation, and
the walls came through the ceiling. The Stones, however, were more fortunate
than many of their neighbors.

"We lost 12 right here in Bridge Creek, three within a half-mile of us,"
Charlene said. "But after you see all the damage, you'll say it's a miracle
that more of us were not killed."

A few days following the tornado, the couple did what they thought was best.
They took the money they had and purchased a used trailer. However, the
trailer they bought was already in extreme need of repairs, and by the time
it was moved to their lot, its condition had worsened.

The trailer had no back door, and the windows were broken out. Charlene laid
plywood on the floor to cover the huge holes in the hallway. She also tried
to connect the plumbing under the trailer but could not do it. 

"Two months had passed, and I was just about ready to give up," she said.
"Then I found a flier about what the United Methodist Church was doing to
help people like me, and I decided to give them a call."

Karen Baker, a resident of Bridge Creek who was serving as an UMCOR case
manager, received the call.

"I called on Tuesday night and the very next morning, help arrived," Stone
said. "I yelled to Tommy and said, 'Look, the Navy's here to help us.'"

She was not imagining things. Baker had dispatched to their trailer 18 men
from the U.S.S. Maryland who had volunteered to help tornado survivors
during their leave time.

They immediately began working to make the trailer a safe place for the
Stones. They replaced the back door and windows, rebuilt the floors, put
down linoleum, installed plumbing, redid the bathroom, ran a gas line, tried
to fix the leaks in the roof. But despite all they did, they finally said to
Baker: "This place needs to be burned. It's not fit for anybody to live in."

When Baker inspected the trailer, she agreed with their assessment and
immediately began processing an application for a home to be built for the
Stones. The application was approved, and UMCOR volunteers went to work.

The Stone home is one of 12 that UMCOR and its partners are building in the
Bridge Creek area for storm survivors who have nowhere to turn for housing.
UMCOR also is building six other houses for tornado victims, including one
in the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference.

The agency is supervising the disaster relief response, which includes case
management, counseling and other comprehensive support.

Recruitment and deployment of volunteers is being done through the Oklahoma
Conference Volunteers-in-Mission Office. Thousands have come from Oklahoma,
at least 20 other states and as far away as Palestine and England.

Other faith groups are partners in the relief efforts. The Mennonites'
Christian Aid Ministry is doing much of the framing and roofing. Oklahoma's
Lumberman's Association is donating much of the material for the homes.

Stone said she was amazed by the kindness and generosity of the volunteers.
"This day and age you hear so much bad stuff about young people that you
don't have much faith in them. But the ones that have showed up here have
changed my whole attitude on young people. There are some special young
people out there."

As she stood watching the volunteers put the finishing touches on her new
home, she smiled. "I sure appreciate everything you folks are doing," she
said. "You are a godsend."

# # #

*Bowdon is the editor of Contact, the newspaper of the Oklahoma Annual
Conference.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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