Moore Remembers May 3, Rebuilds Stronger

By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

MOORE, Oklahoma -- May 3, 1999 was a day of death and destruction in central Oklahoma, and with the passage of time, it's possible to speak of positive things that came in the aftermath of the storm.

The debris field that was Moore in May 1999 has long since vanished, but City Manager Steve Eddy hasn't forgotten the destruction left by the most powerful tornado ever recorded.

Ten years later the devastation has been replaced by close to 600 new homes, but perhaps nothing better represents the revival of Moore's spirit than the Kidsplay public park.

Built by volunteers who donated time and money, Kidsplay was dedicated exactly one year after the tornado, on May 3, 2000.

"We look back on that tornado as the beginning, the rebirth if you will, of Moore in terms of the tremendous amount of growth that we've had since then," Eddy said. "Our population has increased by 25 percent since 1999."

At U.S. Grant High School, Principal Rodney Stearns took Albert Ashwood, the Director of the state's Emergency Management Department, on a tour. They checked on one of the tornado safe rooms located in the newly built school.

"I think it's phenomenal," Ashwood said. "I think anytime we can have the schools that do such a proactive job to make sure they're protecting their students, I think it's fantastic."

Since May 1999, Emergency Management has helped install over 70 safe rooms in school districts all over the state.

When a tornado approached the metro in February, Grant High School moved students and staff inside one of the safe rooms.

"Fortunately, we were not hit by severe weather, but it was nice to feel comfortable and safe that we had to protect," Principal Stearns said.

Emergency Management also introduced a rebate program with the federal government to install safe rooms in homes. Currently, 10,000 have been installed.

"We increased awareness of people that they do live in a dangerous zone when it comes to spring weather," Ashwood said. "They should take care of themselves and their family."

The $70 million National Weather Center on the OU campus in Norman had been talked about and dreamed about since the early 1990s, but the May 3rd tornado helped make it a reality.

"Without the May 3rd tornado, I don't think we would be in the building at this time," said Douglas Forsyth of the National Severe Storms Laboratory.

When President Bill Clinton visited Oklahoma City to inspect the damage, OU President David Boren and Governor Frank Keating lobbied him to approve funding for the weather center. Clinton agreed.

Today at the weather center academics and NOAA researchers work under one roof on projects like phased-array radar. Their interaction stimulates new thinking and new developments.

"One of the good results out of the May 3rd was that we did get some funding started," Forsyth said. "That started the process that actually let to this facility."

An ill wind brought death and destruction, but its aftermath produced positives for everyone.

Since 1999, about $20 million in federal money has been used in Oklahoma to build safe rooms and underground cellars.