The huge tornado that swept through parts of Oklahoma on May 20, 2013, destroyed schools, hundreds of homes and a hospital. 24 people lost their lives, and 377 people were injured.
Almost immediately, a multitude of volunteers from across the country set out to help the fallen city of Moore, Okla., the site that sustained the most damage. One of those people was Lipscomb student Lydia Yau.
“The devastation is like a war zone,” Yau said. “People’s lives are wiped out in a matter of hours. Everything that is familiar to them; homes, schools, hospitals; it’s like some demolition ball came and knocked them to splinters.
“The first time I reached the sites, it was like a nightmare,” Yau said. “You see cars that are dented beyond recognition and houses that have only a wall standing. It’s very horrifying to see that. It’s a feeling that grips your heart. It’s hauntingly sad.”
Yau, who graduated from Lipscomb this past December with a bachelor of social work, plans to return to Lipscomb in August for her masters in professional counseling.
“This is social work, pure and simple,” Yau said. “It’s hands on social work. Not only do we go and clean up debris, but we talk to house owners, too. You’re helping people pick up pieces of their lives, giving them ‘talk therapy,’ because the more times they retell it, that’s when the healing comes.”
Yau was one of 12 other volunteers from Living To Go churches in Goodlettsville, Tenn., and Paragould, Ark., who teamed up with Operation Blessing, a non-profit human need and suffering relief organization affiliated with the Christian Broadcasting Network.
“We met this woman who was helping her friend,” Yau said. “She told us her friend’s six-year-old daughter died during the tornado, and her friend contracted the MRSA infection. She said her usual upbeat attitude was dampened.”
A Malaysia native, Yau was surprised at the volume of help that poured in to Moore.
“The way I see so many people come from all over the USA to help and be a part of the disaster relief, it is so moving,” Yau said. “There are so many people with a helping, kind heart.”
On May 31, the same night the team arrived in Oklahoma, another tornado ripped through; this time targeting El Reno, a city not too far from Moore.
“All the volunteers had to hurry to a shelter,” Yau said. “It’s ironic; we went to help, and we ourselves had to hide.”
The team did everything from hand-stacking piles of debris to sorting through donated items, even helping people relocate.
“Those piles of debris that you see at the side of the road are done entirely by hand,” Yau said. “There are nails and broken pieces of glass everywhere. It’s dangerous. It’s not light work. I never thought about all of this before I went. But I am glad I went.
“We helped one woman sort out her belongings and move it to her new apartment,” Yau said. “When we were done, she said, ‘Did you know this is the first time I’ve smiled in so many weeks?’ It really was so touching. Many of these house owners were so thankful that we were helping them. People are very touched that perfect strangers come to help.”
The team also visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial, a site dedicated to the 1995 Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing.
“While we were there, I saw this quote that I thought was so fitting to the tornado disaster,” Yau said. “It read, ‘The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us.’ When I read that, I had goose bumps. It is true. It is the faith that sustains them, tornado after tornado.”
Note: Lyida Yau is the author’s mother.