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Reflecting on tornado's furryTRIAD, May 21, 2013 (The High Point Enterprise - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Oklahoma native Carole Head hasn't lived in her home state for more than 45 years, but she still has a deep, personal appreciation of the apocalyptic destruction caused by the tornado that cut through Moore, Okla., this week. Head, a faculty member at High Point University, grew up with the specter of tornadoes slicing through her neighborhood in Shawnee, Okla., each spring and summer. She vividly remembers the evening decades ago of her sister's high school graduation, when a looming tornado forced her family into a shelter. "There was a tornado hovering over the school," Head told The High Point Enterprise. "It never touched down -- it was just hovering there for a good while. So we were in our storm cellar." Head, chairwoman of the HPU modern foreign languages department, never witnessed during her youth a tornado strike like the one that obliterated parts of Moore on Monday. But growing up in Oklahoma gives her an appreciation of the resilience of the people there. "I see Oklahomans as very oriented toward helping each other. They are willing to do whatever they can, to lend themselves to help," she said. Since the massive tornado struck Moore, a suburb of Oklahoma City, an outpouring of support from across the nation has filled the void left by the storm. Some of the people who might help on the ground in the coming days and weeks through the American Red Cross may arrive from the greater High Point area and Triad. "My years of experience tell me that we will be sending some people. It's too early to say who and when," said John Hughes, regional chief executive officer for the Red Cross in the area that includes the chapter for High Point and Thomasville. The Red Cross is contacting local volunteers, with skills that might be needed for the tornado relief, to check on their availability, Hughes said Tuesday. "As we start getting requests for people, we will start making them available," he said. "The national leadership team (for the relief effort) may say that we need damage assessment people or shelter managers or case workers. Then we'll say, 'Here are the people available to go with those specific skills.' And they'll put out the call for them." For the vast majority of people in the greater High Point area, the best way to help tornado victims is to donate money to legitimate charities helping on the scene, Hughes said. "We are able to get the supplies and materials on the ground in the affected area much more economically than trying to ship material donations in," he said. Cash donations also allow the Red Cross to provide tornado victims with preloaded debit cards that they can use immediately, Hughes said. "That infuses cash into that local economy that has been devastated," he said. [email protected] -- 888-3528 Tornado relief donations American Red Cross Send a $10 donation to the Disaster Relief fund via text message by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999. You need to be 18 or older, or have parental permission, to donate. By phone, 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief Send checks to: BGCO, Attn: Disaster Relief, 3800 N. May Ave., Oklahoma City, Okla. 73112 Salvation Army Donate online via the organization's website, SalvationArmyUSA.org. You can also text the word STORM to 80888 to make a $10 donation via cell phone. By phone, 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769) Operation USA Donate $10 by texting the word AID to 50555. Checks should be sent to: Operation USA, 7421 Beverly Blvd., PH, Los Angeles, Calif. 90036. By phone, 1-800-678-7255 ___ (c)2013 The High Point Enterprise (High Point, N.C.) Visit The High Point Enterprise (High Point, N.C.) at www.hpe.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |