Frances Schuetz and her family face a difficult situation.
The house they’ve been living in for two years in Shawnee, Oklahoma was destroyed by a tornado—which leveled EF4 damage (the highest is EF5)—on May 19.
What started as a typical Sunday for Schuetz, a certified nurse, her husband James, and their five children, ended as anything but.
“We’ve experienced tornadoes before but we’ve never experienced anything like this,” said Schuetz. “You’re going along with life, everything’s good, and then you go into a storm shelter and you walk out and you have nothing.”
The magnitude of the tornado is something she didn’t think could be possible. “I don’t know how to describe it,” she said, struggling for words that could encompass the massive force. “It’s mind-blowing to just sit there and see nothing.”
A day before the tornado that ripped through Moore, Oklahoma—what is being called one of the most destructive tornadoes of all time—an almost-as-powerful tornado hit Shawnee with stunning force. Shawnee, population about 30,000, is east of Moore and southeast of Oklahoma City.
“It’s like a war zone,” said Schuetz. “It’s like somebody just dropped bomb on the neighborhood.”
Debris is strewn everywhere from the tornado, with residents spending much of Monday at the homes of friends or family that are still standing. Police have blocked people from salvaging belongings from wreckage for the time being, citing safety concerns.
Schuetz has plans to go back, when the police let her, to the remains of her family’s home, and salvage what she can. Parts of the house are still standing, but walls and the roof have been ripped off.
The family had started Sunday relaxing, thinking it was going to be a typical weekend day. They later saw the tornado watch on television, and heard sirens, prompting them to seek shelter.
She said her neighborhood “is entirely wiped out.” She described how one of their neighbors walked out to find his home wiped out, and then saw the body of another neighbor lying in the front yard.
“We lost vehicles, we lost pets,” she said. “We have families and friends that we know that have lost everything, everything they own.”
As for the coming weeks and days, there’s little to do but take it as it comes.
“Just take it day by day, basically,” said Schuetz.
