Volunteers unite from across Oklahoma to help Enid recover from EF4 tornado
By Patrick Talbot
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ENID, Oklahoma (KOCO) — Clean up continues in Enid as the city recovers from an EF-4 tornado that hit the community on Thursday evening.
Days later, the damage is still hard to describe. Homes were flattened, windows were blown out and roofs were blown off of houses, and debris remains all across the area.
But people from all across the U.S. and the state of Oklahoma, including Vance Air Force Base, made their way to the Gray Ridge neighborhood to help those impacted by the storm.
“It’s just another part of the job. Our service, it doesn’t stop when we hang our hat when we retire, and our oath extends beyond just our duty day. So, it’s just another part of being a servant to the people,” Patricia Kimball, the volunteer coordinator for the City of Enid, said. “We put out a call the first day on Friday, and within a couple of hours, we already had 150 people from the base say that they could show up, and then by the end of Friday, we had over 400 community members who were signed up, ready to go at a moment’s notice.”
But the volunteers and service members in the community aren’t the only ones stepping up. Support came from all over Oklahoma.
“My biggest encouragement is twofold. One, from the community locally. The churches that are here, the city members that are here, volunteers and leadership both, and then how many people are filling leadership roles within that. I really appreciate that. I’m really encouraged by it. I’m also very encouraged by the state participation,” volunteer Bradley Jennings said. “It’s a really big outpouring. I really love what we’ve got coming from the state of Oklahoma.”
This support showcased the Oklahoma Standard for all to see.
“People coming in asking, ‘Hey, what can I give? What can I do? What is needed over there?’ As well as hearing reports about people just showing up here and doing whatever that they can. So, it was extremely heartwarming,” Kimball said. “It was simply amazing to see how much people care about their community and what they did to step in.”
Enid Fire Chief Jason Currier said the department is extremely appreciative of the response it has seen from volunteers, organizations and Vance Air Force Base.
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