The event is $25 to attend (although a free stage will be set up outside), with 100 percent of proceeds benefiting the Red Cross of Central & Western Oklahoma. Artists range from the up-and-coming to the highly revered (Wanda Jackson!) — an array of performers so strong that you needn’t anguish over Blake and Miranda. […]
Twister
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Mother and son
Pam Chandler and Abbey Credit: Shannon Cornman The two were brought together May 22 at Southwest Integris Medical Center, where Chandler is recovering from a broken arm. The had been separated shortly after the twister, when Chandler was transported to the hospital by ambulance. “My baby. Hi, sweetie,” Chandler squealed as she saw Abby for […]
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Payback politics?
Credit: Brad Gregg Even as recovery operations began May 20, Roll Call quoted Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, as saying disaster spending should be offset with spending cuts elsewhere, dredging up ugly memories of the earlier struggle to pass disaster relief spending for Hurricane Sandy victims. The GOP was accused of cold-heartedness after House Speaker John […]
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Praise the who?
Credit: Brad Gregg “I guess you’ve got to thank the Lord, right?” Blitzer asked. “Do you thank the Lord? For that split-second decision?” The woman hesitated briefly. “I … I’m actually an atheist,” she answered politely before both she and Blitzer broke into awkward, albeit wonderful, laughter. “But we are here,” the woman added, “and […]
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A tragedy on Twitter
Credit: Shannon Cornman @reedtimmerTVN: STRONG tornado potential again tomorrow (today, Monday afternoon) over much of central and eastern OK!Timmer is a meteorologist and storm chaser. @severestudios: LARGE, VIOLENT tornado moving into S OKC metro. MOORE AREA GET UNDERGROUND NOW! (3:07pm)Severe Studios break severe weather news in Tornado Alley. @dailythunder: This is just the worst.Young is […]
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Not business as usual
Warren Theatre credit: Marianne Bacharach The Orr Family Farm, a 106-acre site for children’s activities and agriculture education, sustained significant damage as well as the deaths of a number of horses. Some news reports initially put the figure at 100 horses, but Tony Vann, a spokesman for the farm, said most of those found dead […]
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MAPS for trauma
It was joy and grieving and defiance. I was screaming at Timothy McVeigh and for that baby carried by the firefighter as much as I was yelling for our young team that was making our city proud much sooner than expected. In OKC, it is all wrapped up together, the joy and pain. Now, unfortunately, […]
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To be an Oklahoman
In Oklahoma, when you pop out of your mama, the doctors give you the once-over. They check your eyes, because they know you’re going to have to stare down EF4 tornadoes and not flinch. They check the gravel in your guts, because true grit is making a living from hard, dry land, molding a life […]
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Moore will be more
“I left the door open on the shelter so we could look. We had the radio down there to follow the path of the tornado,” said 53-year-old Greg Stephens. Then the winds roared, and Stephens moved to close the door. “It wouldn’t latch,” he recalled. He clambered out and struggled with the door, trying to […]
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Dispatches from a disaster
“I saw it right before it hit, and then I grabbed the dogs and headed to the center part of the house, which was a closet,” he said. That last move saved his life. With the home falling down around him, the 38-year-old man and his dogs were spared. “I felt the ground shake and […]