Moore Police struggle to find addresses in the areas blasted by the tornado. Moore Police Department’s Sergeant Jeremy Lewis says it is difficult locating streets or reference markers because it has all been destroyed.
“A lot of our shelters are registered, but even with that we can’t located the addresses. We don’t even know what block we’re on, so it’s difficult,” says Lewis. “There are no streets anymore. Even guys that have worked here 20 years are having trouble finding any kind of reference point to know what street we’re at.”
Rescue efforts are encountering difficulty in the search due to leftover debris and remaining shelters in the rubble. Oklahoma Highway Patrol’s Betsy Randolph says a systemized search is important.
“Something that we’re finding is that there’s only a slab left. We’ll get to a road, and they’ll be nothing but slabs. So we’re having to systemically go into that location and remove any debris to see if there is a shelter underneath any of that area, some of it inside the slab itself,” says Randolph.
As the rescue efforts in Moore continue, residents are looking forward to returning back to what once was their home. Oklahoma National Guard’s Major Jean Maston says this will not happen until all is clear and safe.
“We’ll be helping the police establish a larger perimeter so that any final search and rescue efforts can be completed,” says Maston. “And then as it is as okay, or deemed okay, that the local populace can come back in and look at their homes, look at their businesses, you’ll start to see less National Guard, more local police, but to a smaller degree.”