In just minutes of the news of tornadoes hitting the ground, the citizens of Oklahoma responded. Interestingly, the use of social networking including Facebook and Twitter were a means to communicate need as well as the location of tornado touch-downs as they happened.
One would think that Oklahoma had experienced such tragedies before.
The Oklahoman has reported a total of five fatalities at the time of this posting and recovery efforts are ongoing. (Read the story here.) OG&E is reporting over 27,000 homes are without power.
Oklahomans should be proud of the unity experienced during such times of tragedy, and now the question will be how long it takes the Governor to ask the federal government for financial aid. Rather than using our own resources, we prove to the world that we are a welfare state.
Never mind using state Rainy Day Funds for such emergencies - it will probably be better spent on OU football tickets...
We can fund endowed chairs, but we can't fund disaster relief in our own state. We are potentially screwed, friends. But, somehow, the faith community will come together and meet need...like we always do.