Tulsa World: Moore residents allowed back into tornado-ravaged neighborhoods

Tulsa World - Michael Overall

Forty-eight hours after the tornado, at precisely 3 p.m. Wednesday, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol officer cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled as loud as he could.

"OK, everybody. Let's go!"

Hundreds of people surged forward as officials reopened the devastated neighborhoods for the first time.

With everybody accounted for and President Barack Obama planning to visit on Sunday, the focus shifted from searching the rubble for bodies and survivors to sorting through it and cleaning it up.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano toured the damage in Moore with Gov. Mary Fallin on Wednesday before traveling to Joplin, Mo., for the second anniversary of that city's notorious storm.

"There's a lot of work to be done here," she told the Oklahoma governor. "We'll need to make sure this goes as smoothly as possible, although people here are really hurting."

The death toll remained 24, with 353 others injured. Everyone who had been reported missing had been accounted for.

Starting at dawn, dump trucks hauled away tons of debris, and crews concentrated on clearing roads and restoring utilities, paving the way for a larger-scale clean-up effort in the weeks ahead.

"We have to start cleaning up before we can start rebuilding," Fallin said. "And I'm already noticing a big difference."

Napolitano noted that "one thing that impresses me is the strength and resilience of Oklahoma. It's very impressive and a model for the rest of the country."

Finally getting in: While they were waiting for officials to let them see what was left of their homes, residents lined up at 49 checkpoints around the perimeter.

"Tell the mayor to let us in!" somebody yelled at the police.

Some residents had been waiting since daybreak. But officers stepped in front of people to block the way.

"There's no reason for it," said Jack Brown, who described seeing four bodies lying in the road after the tornado destroyed his neighborhood. "It's our house. Our property. There's not much left, but we have a right to go get it."

When police finally let them, the crowds streamed through the debris with boxes, trash sacks and empty suitcases to fill with whatever belongings they could find.

"Watch out for nails," a father warned his children.

"Is this our street?" another man asked his neighbors. "I've lived here 25 years, and I don't recognize anything."

Belinda Horstkoetter kept $5,500 in cash hidden in a bag of hash browns in the freezer.

"Thank you, Jesus," Horstkoetter said, pulling the envelope out of a pile of broken boards.

Her daughter - grown and living on her own - squealed as she picked up an old Barbie doll from her childhood.

"It's the little things that you want the most," Horstkoetter said. "The memories are what you want back."

Families were also digging for mortgage and insurance papers so they could apply for help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

After the storm: More than 300 FEMA officials have come to survey the damage and distribute federal aid, officials said.

"At some point the cameras will go away, but we'll be here as long as it takes," said Napolitano, whose Homeland Security Department includes FEMA.

"It's going to be a long recovery."

With 200 mph winds, the EF5 tornado damaged or destroyed more than 12,000 houses, leaving a debris field 17 miles long and more than a mile wide.

More than 33,000 people have been displaced, although only 29 remained at Red Cross shelters on Wednesday.

White House spokesman Jay Carney confirmed that the president will tour the damage Sunday.

And the governor announced that Moore's First Baptist Church will host a memorial service.

Republicans in Congress will cooperate with the Obama administration to send the necessary funds, promised U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, who lives in Moore.

"We will have a tremendous federal response," he said, "in a very bipartisan way."

Hundreds of people survived the tornado in shelters they built after a similar storm killed 44 people on May 3, 1999.

Mayor Glenn Lewis suggested that rebuilt homes should be required to include shelters.

"After going through two of these," he said, "I know I'm getting one."

Online: Tulsa World