'Gutwrenching': OKC neighborhood suffers damaging tornado, Oklahomans helping
Nov 03, 2024
An Oklahoma City neighborhood is cleaning up debris after a tornado touched down around 1:30 a.m. on November 3. Instantly, Oklahomans did what Oklahomans do. Numerous homes suffered severe damage, and multiple injuries were reported. Cars were flipped over, trees fell on top of homes, and debris was scattered from one home to another. "You were scared. You did good, though. You were brave. You were brave, brave, brave," said Kaitlin Nixon while talking to her son. She rode out the storm with her two boys and her husband. She said the warning came right as they noticed the winds pick up. Luckily, the tornado did not touch her home, but walk a few blocks down the street, and youll find a different story."Gut-wrenching. You dont know what to say. You dont know what to do. You look at it and youre like where do you even start?" said Nixon.While 2 News was there, families were sorting through what was left of their belongings. "I was looking at all the damage back there and I thought, 'Wow this is devastating.' And so we started calling people and said, 'Hey can you come can you bring water? Can you bring this? Can you bring that?"' said Pastor Tom Drake of the Free Will Baptist Church. The church is just across the street from the neighborhood that took the brunt of the storm. After the storm, there was a strong display of the Oklahoma Standard. Volunteers boarded up broken windows, patched roofs, and even fed those who lost everything. This all happened just hours after the tornado touched down."We were thinking about having a worship service. And then the thought came, why dont we just serve?" Drake said. Drake reflected on a time when he was helped after his home was destroyed by the Moore tornado in 2013. "I got a call from my son; he said, 'Dad your house in gone. Its completely demolished,'" said Drake. The church gathered donations from the community to give back, while keeping the, you got a friend in me, mentality in the sooner state."It gives you a good feeling to be able to help people and he was saying you know what thats the way people in Oklahoma are," said Drake.The Free Will Baptist Church is collecting donations on November 3rd to help their neighbors. Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere -- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices. Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you Like us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram SUBSCRIBE on YouTube