(Legacy) The Survivor Chimney - Moore, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 19.928 W 097° 29.872
14S E 636520 N 3910911
Within a few minutes, the entire area was demolished, as an F5 tornado ripped through the town of Moore.
Waymark Code: WMKX06
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 06/05/2014
Views: 8
UPDATE: 11/5/2016. Life moves on. Progress is made. It has been reported that this chimney was eventually torn down and a nice new home was built back on this foundation.
The date was May 20, 2013. Everyone was glued to their television sets as the weather radar showed the storms bearing down on the town of Moore. Surely not again! It was just 1999 that a similar tornado devastated a huge area in this town, and here it was again. The tornado plowed through the town, destroying everything above ground: houses, schools, factories, parks, businesses.
Within a few minutes, it lifted up into the air on the east side of town and was gone. Behind it lay ruins and death. Residential areas were unrecognizable. Every landmark was gone. The fortunate ones began to crawl out of their underground storm shelters, and the scene they saw looked like something out of a war zone.
On the east edge of Tom Strouhal/Little River Park, most houses are flattened - piles of rubble and debris. But out of the chaos, this chimney rises. It belongs to the northernmost house on Heather Lane. All houses to the east are gone. This house is totally leveled to the ground, yet this chimney stands. Buildings more sturdy in town have been destroyed, yet this chimney stands.
The rubble from the house has been removed in the past year, leaving just the ceramic tile flooring, and indications of where walls once stood. You can walk over the tile and identify where the kitchen sink was, and the washer/dryer. But that's it. Just to the north, the Park is undergoing renovation with new playgrounds and picnic pavilions being built. The City website says the park will contain a memorial to the tornado. I'm just dreaming, but wouldn't it be nice if the park annexed this piece of property and made this chimney their tornado memorial, demonstrating the resilience of this town, and it's survivor mentality. What a fitting memorial that would be.
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