Southeast student group assists in Okla. disaster relief efforts

A group of seven Southeast Missouri State University students and Dr. Tom Holman prolonged coming home from a rigorous 10-day trip to lend support to disaster relief efforts in Moore, Okla., two days after a tornado ravaged the area.

The group left Colorado May 22 after spending a week and a half gaining experience for an outdoor adventure class. Holman, associate professor of health, human performance and recreation at the university, has led the class since he started teaching at Southeast nine years ago. The trip is designed to give students experience in the outdoors with different elements than Southeast Missouri can provide.

The troop left for Colorado on May 13 with the goal to learn by doing. They went rock-climbing, white water rafting, hiked the incline at Colorado Springs and visited the Garden of the Gods.

Normally, Holman drives down Interstate 70 on the return trip, but with the late spring snow, they opted for a southern route. They ended up staying the night in Oklahoma City, vying for hotel rooms when most were being snatched up by people coming to help with relief efforts and insurance adjusters.

Holman said he told his students at the least, they ought to go look at the devastation in Moore.

Brendon Smith, left, Jessi Dickerson and Evan Miller help the moving process by lining a trailer. (Submitted)

"If you've never seen anything like this before, pictures don't do it justice," he said. "If we have an opportunity to serve, would you guys be willing to?"

His students rallied.

"We were already there, it was so fresh, everything had just happened, so why not?" ask Jason Daily, a senior graduating in December. "We may be tired, but that was a vacation for us. These people are exhausted and devastated emotionally and physically. Their lives were just forever changed."

Many had to make calls to put off work, camp and a sibling's graduation, but people back home were supportive of the cause.

Daily said he called his wife and they had to reschedule day care, but that wasn't a big deal.

"It was more explaining to my little girl that I wouldn't be home before she went to bed," he said.

From a 10-day trip of constant physical action, to the devastation of Moore's tornadoes, the reality of home was put on hold a day longer.

As soon as the van reached Moore, Holman started calling churches in the area, trying to contact relief efforts or any sort of mobilized teams with a plan. He got no answers, and he knew he only had one day to get these students involved.

State troopers and the National Guard had the town blocked off because of looters the night before, but Holman and his troop were able to get through a back road.

"We probably looked kind of official in a 15-passenger van," he said. "Everybody just kind of ignored us. There was nobody in there. Looking around the devastation was just horrific."

The group reached Highland Baptist Church, where a mission organization, Operation Blessing, showed up the day the tornado hit. The Southeast group joined the efforts.

"It was like God aligned everything just right," Holman said. "We had that 15-passenger van, and we unloaded our gear and smelly boots and put everything in a Sunday school classroom and filled the van with water and food."

The group drove around distributing supplies, food and water to residents and other volunteers.

"The people who lived there and the workers were extremely thankful, as they rummaged through piles of what used to be their house," he said.

Some of the students went to help 70-year-old Jim Smith, a veteran and Purple Heart recipient, pack up what was left of his belongings and moved them to a storage unit. His house was still standing, but there was nothing left of the home of his neighbor with the storm cellar, where he spent the duration of the tornado with three other men and a 7-month-old baby.

"It was very surreal," he said. "It's one thing to see on TV, but to stand on top of a hill and look in either direction and see nothing but destruction? It makes me think: 'Am I prepared? Is my family prepared? Would anybody come and help us?'"

Though the group showed up two days after the tornado hit, they arrived about the same time homeowners were allowed back into the area.

"We saw all kinds of emotions, crying, laughter, hugs," Holman said. "Some people just got out of the car and then left again, at the shock of seeing their homes. We were seeing this as it unfolded."

Holman said he thought his students were humbled by the experience.

"I think my students were taken aback by what they saw, but they were ready to just dive in and put on the servant's heart and do the hard work that needed to be done to help these folks out," he said.

botto@semissourian.com

Pertinent address:

Moore, Okla.