Former resident shares experience of Moore, Okla. tornado

“We’re told we can either go home when severe storms happen or we can stay and wait it out,” she said. “All my coworkers were going home, so I thought I might as well, too.”

Little did Amstrup know the storm would turn into a massive EF-5 tornado that would rip through Moore, Okla., – where she lives – killing 24 and injuring hundreds more.

“It has been really hard,” Amstrup told The Journal Thursday. “But the response has been amazing.”

While Amstrup, her boyfriend Ben McIntosh, and their two dogs are physically unharmed, she said they are unsure where to begin picking up the pieces.

“Our house is structurally sound, but we cannot be there because of utilities,” she said. “Right now, our fence is on a gas line and there are gas leaks everywhere.”

Many of Amstrup’s neighbors and thousands of Moore’s 56,000 residents are left with nothing, she said.

Unforgettable storm

Amstrup was preparing to leave work that Monday, when she said a coworker stopped her with a question.

“Five minutes turned into 10 minutes, turned into 20 minutes and soon it was half an hour later,” she said. “By that time, it had really started to rain and hail and I decided I didn’t want to drive in that.”

Amstrup has lived in Oklahoma for two years and in that time she said she has seen severe storms that have spun tornadoes, but never anything too serious.

Along with other coworkers, Amstrup sought shelter in a stairwell where she was able to watch a live feed of the storm.

“(Meteorologists) were saying there was a funnel cloud forming southwest of Moore,” Amstrup recalled. “I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal.”

Eventually, however, weather reports began to take a more alarming tone.

“I wasn’t freaking out at first,” she said. “but what caught my attention was the coverage I was watching said the storm was heading right toward the Warren Theater. I live next to the Warren Theater.”

As she was watching the storm’s progress, she was sending weather updates via text messages to McIntosh, who works as a loss prevention manager at Lowe’s Home Improvement store in Moore – less than half a mile from the Warren Theater.

As it became more obvious that McIntosh was right in the twister’s path, Amstrup said she was frantically texting him to get himself, other employees and customers to a secure spot.

“After a few minutes of me telling him to hide, I got a text from him that said, ‘It’s on us,’” Amstrup said.

As she worried about McIntosh’s safety, Amstrup said meteorologists were yelling the tornado was on Lonnie Lane.

“I live on Lonnie Lane,” she said. “We live in a two-story house and my dogs were up on the second story behind a baby gate. My concerns went back and forth between Ben and the dogs.”

‘I’m OK’

Phone lines were tied up and Amstrup said she was unable to make contact with her boyfriend for several minutes. Finally, one half hour after his text alerting her the storm had reached him, she received a message that said, “I’m OK.”

“Once everyone around him was alright, Ben had to make sure the store itself was structurally sound before he could go home to check on the dogs,” Amstrup said. “Before reaching Lowe’s, the twister pivoted north or it would have gone directly over the store and Ben.”

Amstrup said the mile and a half between Lowe’s and the home she and McIntosh rent, took McIntosh almost one half hour to drive. He finally found a spot to park the car and walked the rest of the way in. Once he reached the couple’s home, which was still standing, Amstrup said McIntosh found the dogs barking and alive.

“We are so incredibly lucky,” Amstrup said. “I’m so thankful my family is in tact. The fact that our house and stuff is fine is only the icing on the cake.”

Lowe’s was a designated location to feed survivors of the storm and because McIntosh was helping direct efforts, Amstrup said it wasn’t until midnight – almost nine hours after the storm hit – that she was reunited with McIntosh and “able to give him a hug.”

Amazing response

Amstrup said her “Sonic Family” has been “incredibly generous” to she and McIntosh since the storm hit.

“They put us up in a hotel and have given us food, they’re amazing,” she said.

Amstrup briefly returned to her home Tuesday to gather valuables and necessities. Because her street is part of a designated national disaster area, a curfew has been set prohibiting people from being there after dark, she said.

“As I was walking towards my home, I knew what the street was supposed to look like, but nothing was there,” she said. “There was one point where I should have been starring right at Briarwood Elementary, but it was nothing but wide open space.”

No students at Briarwood Elementary were killed, however, nine students at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore died as a result of the storm.

“Despite everything that has happened, the response has been overwhelming,” Amstrup said. “There are so many volunteers everywhere. There are random, awesome food vendors just walking around the devastation handing out food from their restaurants to people as they pick up their stuff.”

For now, Amstrup is unsure of what the next step will be. She and McIntosh are registered with the American Red Cross and waiting on a long-term housing solution.

“We are looking forward to cleaning up and helping our neighbors clean and rebuild our neighborhood,” she said.

She added that instead of a company picnic this year — which was scheduled to be held at the now destroyed Orr Family Farm just north of Amstrup’s home, the employees of Sonic will forgo the annual food, fun and games to roll up their sleeves and volunteer in helping the Orr Family Farm clean up and rebuild.

“Everybody is in help mode,” Amstrup said. “The residents of Moore are really strong. We will get through this.”