Volunteers Start To Rebuild Tornado-Ravaged Homes In Moore

The New Year brings new hope to tornado victims. Volunteers with Habitat for Humanity have started working on their fourth house in southwest Oklahoma City and Moore. The recipients of this house rode out the storm in a shelter and inside the Moore Medical Center.

Saturday, January 4th 2014, 8:20 pm

By: News 9


The New Year brings new hope to tornado victims. Volunteers with Habitat for Humanity have started working on their fourth house in southwest Oklahoma City and Moore.

The recipients of one house rode out the storm in a shelter and inside the Moore Medical Center.

Saturday marks another step in the recovery in Moore as another habitat house goes up. Empty lots where houses once stood serve as reminders of the deadly force of the EF-5 tornado on May 20.

"I lost my house, my car and my job site in less than five minutes. So it was really a huge awakening moment for me like how fast things can be gone and how we take things for granted," Dustin Keener said.

Dustin and Leslie Keener lost a lot that day, but their family survived.

"We were living with other people until we could find a place. And it's a big deal to be secure and stable for our kiddos," Leslie Keener said.

On Saturday, News 9 visited the site of their new house, built by volunteers from Habitat for Humanity.

"It's a huge blessing that people would come out in the cold on a Saturday when they could be with their families," Leslie said.

One of those volunteers is Betty Killensworth, who lost her house in the May 3, 1999 tornado. She's gone through this before and says the Keeners have a lot to look forward to.

Like Killensworth, 14 years ago, the Keeners decided to stay put and rebuild in the area.

Now, this isn't a blitz build, so it'll take about 16 weeks in all to get the house fully completed. Habitat for Humanity says they will be building new homes for victims of last summer's tornadoes for the next several years.

Learn more about the Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity.

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