“We’re not digging through rubble for somebody, we’re digging through rubble for things. And that’s how we have to look at it,” Rick Jones told WFAA.
SULPHUR, Okla. — Sunday officials announced at least four people died from the outbreak of tornadoes that hit Oklahoma late Saturday, including a four-month-old baby.
The small town of Sulphur was among the hardest hit. Of the 100 injured people statewide, emergency management officials said, 30 of them were from Sulphur. One of the people who died, a woman, also died in Sulphur. Governor Stitts announced her body was recovered from a bar downtown Sunday afternoon.
“This was the bedroom,” Rick Jones exhaled.
Rick lives less than a half mile from hard-hit downtown Sulphur and let WFAA into his home to see the damage done. His home is a total loss. His house lifted from its foundation, his roof ripped right off.
“You can see across town the path that the storm followed,” he said, pointing out his broken window.
Almost everything Rick’s worked to provide for his family is wet, dirty, broken, or gone.
“All of our computers are gone, 3D printers are gone, most of our collectibles are trashed,” he said.
But Sunday Rick put on a brave face for his little girl and smiled when she found some bracelets clean and dry.
“Yes pumpkin?” He asked his young daughter.
“We found some of the stuff Nana gave me!” she told her dad.
“Oh fantastic!” Rick said. “What did you find?”
“We found a bunch of my jewelry,” she beamed.
But when Rick was away from his daughter, the devoted dad finally felt the weight of it, as he found his daughter’s wet and dirty toys.
“The memories…all of it,” he cried. “This is our life.”
But Rick believes he is in fact lucky. The tornado that took out his home was part of the outbreak that killed four people in Oklahoma, including a woman half a mile away from his home.
“We’re not digging through rubble for somebody, we’re digging through rubble for things. And that’s how we have to look at it,” he said.
Rick’s family and friends have created a GoFundMe to help his family rebuild.
If you would like to help those who have been impacted by tornadoes, storms, and floods click here.