By NICK VILLALOBOS
Staff Reporter
On May 20, 2013, Moore, Oklahoma, was forever changed by Mother Nature.
An EF5 tornado roared through the town, destroying an estimated 450 homes and businesses according to KOCO.com and killed 24 people and leaving 377 people injured.
For the one’s that survived the tornado, their stories continue to be told today. One in which involves one of Northwestern Oklahoma State University’s former students, Jake Spradling.
In 2013, Spradling was just finishing up his senior year in high school. The particular day that the tornado hit, Jake and his little brother were still in school, while their parents sat at home keeping watch on the weather.
“They planned on just riding it out,” Jake said.
A few hours went by, and the weather took a turn for the worse. The clouds began to change and funnel clouds started to form. One funnel cloud in particular built up just enough and touched down.
“The tornado touched down about 30 minutes away from my house in Moore,” Jake said. “My parents told me to go to my grandparents’ house in Norman to wait out the storm.”
After picking up his brother from school, they both left for Norman.
Two days went by after the tornado ripped through Moore. Jake and his family went back to Moore to assess the damage.
“I went back to help find a friend’s little sister at her elementary school,” Jake said. “Seeing all that damage, just a mile from where I lived was just jaw dropping.”
He said, “there was no time to mourn. It was more of an ‘okay, well it happened; now let’s get to work.’”
A year after the tornado, the Spradlings finally moved into their newly built house.
FEMA, local fire departments, numerous safety crews and neighboring towns (one being Alva) provided relief efforts for Moore. They brought clothes, water, food and other basic necessities for the residents who lost all of their belongings in the tornado.