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21 May 2013

I was pulling people from the debris – Oklahoma resident

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As residents of Oklahoma City survey the tornado’s devastation, one eyewitness describes to Channel 4 News hiding from the storm in her closet before rushing to help survivors.

Oklahoma tornado - eyewitness story (Madi Alexander)

This is just one of hundreds of shocking images of the destruction wrought by a massive tornado in Oklahoma City.

The difference is – this picture was not taken by a news agency or a professional photographer. It was taken by Madi Alexander, an Oklahoma resident and journalism student who lives just around the corner from the worst affected area, the suburb of Moore.

“My house is still standing so I’m better off than everybody else,” she told Channel 4 News.

My house is still standing so I’m better off than everybody else. Madi Alexander, Oklahoma resident

Describing the moment the Oklahoma tornado hit, she said: “I’ve grown up in Oklahoma. We know what to do, but you never expect to have to do that. So I was in my closet, covering my head with pillows.

“I got as much warning as possible – but it was quick, very quick. I was tweeting and then I said hey, if they mention the tornado and this intersection, I’m screwed. Then 15 minutes later I was like, OK, I’ve got to go.

“I was in my closet tweeting that, then I put my phone in my pocket and the pillow over my head. I live on 22nd Street. Houses on 21st and 20th are destroyed.”

After the worst of the storm passed, Madi and her mother went out to see what they could do to help.

“I walked out of my house, cleared the debris out in front of my house, and people were saying the houses north are just gone. So I walked that way and the first responders were still going through the neighbourhoods. So we walked through and we kept yelling hello. And we could hear people yelling back… so I helped pull some people out, and then some animals.

“They were injured, so we pulled them out.”

Madi is currently sheltering at a friend’s house as her own home has no water or power. She plans to go back to her home when it gets lighter.

“I’m a little shaky still,” she told Channel 4 News. “It’s raining and thundering right now, and every time it rumbles I just go, oh no, not again – shall I run to the closet?”

But she said the response from the people of Oklahoma had made her proud of her city’s resilience.

“Everyone is messaging me saying ‘Are you OK? Do you need somewhere to stay?’ We survived a bombing, we survived a tornado, we can get through everything,” she said.

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