May 12, 1999
Moore church becomes
center of area's relief effort
___MOORE, Okla. (BP)--Alan Cox saw the massive tornado coming across the Oklahoma plains last Monday afternoon.
___The huge storm, which left dozens dead and thousands homeless, missed his home by about 300 to 400 yards.
___"As I stood and watched its path after it passed our house, I realized it was headed straight for the church," said Cox, pastor of First Baptist Church of Moore.
___He immediately headed for the church, a normally short trip which this night took him almost two hours. When he got there, the church building was standing, although there had been extensive damage to brickwork, windows and the roof. The sign out front was acrumpled mass. The only office in the church which was damaged was Cox's, which took two 2-by-4s through it.
THOUGH BATTERED ITSELF from the storm, the campus of First Baptist Church of Moore, Okla., became the center of relief efforts in the northern section of the suburban Oklahoma City community after a massive tornado tore through the area May 3. Pastor Alan Cox immediately opened the building for rescue workers, and then the church became a clearinghouse for all kinds of donated goods. (BP photo by Morris Abernathy)
___But the neighborhood across the street from the church, where many of First Baptist's members live, was almost totally destroyed.
___"There are hundreds of houses not just damaged, but gone," Cox said.
___The pastor realized the church needed to set up a command post because the building was the only one in Moore than could handle that kind of need. Within minutes, the Department of Civil Emergency Management, Highway Patrol and Red Cross set up stations at the facility.
___Cox said he has been amazed at people's willingness to help.
___"We have had calls from all across the nation offering everything from money to food to clothing to water," he said. "Albertson's has given us a truckload of food straight from its shelves, and Wal-Mart, Sam's, restaurants continue to bring in supplies."
___As a result, the church's hallways were lined with food, hygiene items and other supplies.
___Although electricity was out in the area, Bud Parrish, missions evangelism pastor, said the church was operating on a back-up generator.
___The Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma's disaster relief unit established a base of operations at the Moore church as well, serving 300 meals Tuesday, 800 meals Wednesday and 1,500 meals Thursday.
___Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating spent Tuesday morning at the church and while in Cox's office received a call from Texas Gov. George W. Bush who offered support. That night, Keating was interviewed on NBC's "Dateline" while standing in front of the church.
___On Tuesday, May 4, the church bus was delivering people to the Marriott Hotel in Norman, which was offering 200 rooms for three nights for victims who had nowhere to go.
___Cox, along with eight others on the pastoral staff as well as support staff, were at the church all night Monday and all day Tuesday.
___The ministers had opportunity to counsel with several who lost their homes.
___He told about a Vietnamese man who stopped his car as the tornado was approaching. As he was holding his 3-year-old and 1-year old children, he wrapped his feet around a concrete post. His wife was attempting to move to a higher and safer place, when the tornado sucked her up and whirled her away.
___"He came to the church in total shock," Cox said.
___Another crisis nearly erupted over animals. Many people displaced by the storm brought their pets with them to the church's shelter.
___"The health department came in and told them they had to get rid of the pets," Cox said. "People were walking out asking what kind of church this was. I knew we couldn't have that, so I called them back in, told the health department it wasn't their business and provided a place for the people with animals to stay."
___Although First Baptist's facility is still standing and is currently being well-used, it suffered an estimated $3 million or more worth of damage in the storm.
___
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