by Steve Dunn
There are almost no words adequate to express what I am about to share. About 3:00 pm local time on May 20th, a massive tornado that reached E4 status struck the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore OK. It actually reached E5 status when it ripped through the Plaza Towers Elementary School nearing the end of its school day. Seven children, ages 8 and 9, died at that school as the dark column of destruction moved across Moore for a horrendous 41 minutes. A second elementary school was struck but all of the children survived. In all 24 persons lost their lives in this community of 57,000 people.
Principal Amy Simpson walked the halls trying to get the children ready for the tornado's arrival with the intercom finally announcing, "It's here." And it was. What came next was pure heroism. "The teachers covered themselves in debris while they were covering
their babies. And I believe that is why so many of us survived that day,
because the teachers were able to act quickly, stay calm and take
literally the weight of a wall onto their bodies to save those that were
under them," said Simpson.
Then there's the story of Jennifer Doan, a third grade teacher.
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