OK Studio Creates Online Database For Photos Found In Tornado Debris

As the cleanup process continued more than a week after devastating tornados ripped through sever Oklahoma towns and cities, a new effort emerged.

The idea is to gather pictures found in the debris then put them into a single database for tornado victims to locate.

Complete Coverage: May 2013 Tornado Outbreak

Thousands of pictures have been recovered during the last week as far away as Tulsa. Each of them is a snapshot of a memory and when people find them, they don't always know where to take them.

Several places have been collecting the photos since the tornado, but now one studio is working to create a centralized location where tornado victims can find their lost pictures.

"I saw some old pictures laying in some puddles and it kind of broke my heart because these were peoples' memories," said photographer Amy Pierce.

Pierce plans to restore as many of the photos as she can during the cleanup process. She hopes to salvage even some of the badly damaged pictures. Her studio, Studio Innovations, is now the point-place for anyone who has found lost photographs.

Pierce is trying to spread the word to local churches and businesses that have been collecting the pictures.

"We're going to clean them up, we're going to organize them, we're going to serial number them and then we're going to make them available on a website and hopefully we're going to have some books that are going to be available for viewing at maybe some public places like the library."

Pierce has partnered with National Disaster Photo Rescue to create a massive online database where victims can search through the listings, claim and collect their photographs.

Find out how you can volunteer

List of Needed Donations:

Large manila envelopes

Legal note pads

Post it notes

Black and red Sharpies

Paperclips

Rubber bands

Pens and Pencils

Electric pencil sharpener

Copy paper

2 inch Binders

Page protectors

Face masks (allergy masks)

Plastic gloves

Small to medium size electric fans

Dell computers

Epson scanners

Used dryer sheets

Gift Cards

Contact Information:

Studio Innovations

201 N. Broadway, Suite #104

Moore, OK 73160

(405) 626-3686