| This report dated: | |
| Tuesday, May 4, 1999 | |
|
The Salvation Army is serving food and beverages to emergency personnel and survivors of tornadoes that struck the Oklahoma City area last night. In Oklahoma City, The Salvation Army has dispatched disaster relief mobile canteens from throughout Oklahoma as well as Fayetteville, Arkansas. Salvation Army personnel also are providing fixed-site feeding at the Emergency Operations Center in Oklahoma City. Three Salvation Army facilities are sheltering displaced residents. Blankets, bottled water and other necessities also are being distributed. Donation sites have been established throughout the city. In the Wichita, Kansas area, The Salvation Army has established a shelter in an elementary school and four mobile canteens are serving food and beverages for residents and emergency workers. Four mobile homes were swept into a lake by a tornado and emergency workers are dragging the lake in search of possible victims. Hundreds of Oklahoma and Kansas residents were injured by the storm system that developed in southwest Oklahoma and moved to the northeast, spawning numerous tornadoes which destroyed entire communities in the Oklahoma City area. Reports indicate that at least 30 to 40 people were killed in Oklahoma and five were killed in Kansas. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) has established an amateur radio link with Oklahoma City and will accept requests via the Internet for information about the health and welfare of loved ones in the Oklahoma City area. To request such assistance, go to the SATERN Disaster Communications Web-Site at: http://welcome.to/satern/ Additionally, SATERN personnel are providing point to point communication between Salvation Army vehicles, command posts and personnel and providing a shuttle service to and from the affected area for Salvation Army volunteers.
|
|