Victims Of '99 Tornado Lend A Hand In Union City

More than a decade later, victims of the May 3, 1999 tornado reach out to help families in Union City who lost everything two weeks ago. As the cleanup continues, one man wants to thank the strangers who helped him out.

The Mullanax's house was right in the path of the May 31 tornado, and as it made a B-line for their home, this family of five didn't take any chances. But it's what some good guy did afterwards that has this homeowner saying ‘thank you'.

A pile of twisted metal, crumbled brick and snapped lumber is all that's left of the Mullanax's home. It was dead set in the path of a massive tornado twisting just South of I-40.

"I ran through the house, climbed in and told them to brace themselves, it's coming. I told them it wasn't a warning, it was coming," said Mark Mullanax.

Once back above, Mullanax saw how bad the damage actually was. But that's when the good started happening.

"We had a lot of help come out. I mean you can't even name all the people," said Mullanax. "There was three boys. They were about in their early twenties I would say and they were driving a PT Cruiser and I know they were from Bridge Creek, Okla."

The three didn't ask for anything in return, apparently paying a good deed forward.

"I know one, if not all three of them had their property destroyed back in '99," Mullanax said.

The three brought car loads of supplies and helped the family in the early parts of cleaning up. Mullanax didn't have a chance to say how much that meant to his family.

"I'd really like to get in touch with them and tell them thanks again and see what I could do for them later after this is all said and done."

The family pets also survived the tornado. The dogs rode out the storm inside, the cat underneath the hood of this pickup truck. 

Anyone still in need of help in that area can go to the multi-agency resource center that is set up at the Jenks Simmons Field House in El Reno.