Okla. residents' dilemma after tornadoes: Stay or move?

by Vinita Nair

(CBS News) MOORE, Okla. - On Sunday, President Obama will be in Moore, Oklahoma to see the damage from Monday's devastating tornado. Funerals for two more children were held Saturday. Now families in Moore are asking a tough question again: whether to stay and rebuild -- or move on.

It's the kind of loss a person should have to deal with only once in a lifetime. Unless you're Paul Phillips.

"See this black, black piece up there?" he asked, showing us the rubble. "Right behind it is a front door."

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His family has been through this before when a tornado hit Moore 14 years ago. "After the first tornado, we kind of actually thought about moving. But you know, I mean just Moore is where we raised our kids. my wife grew up here. It's just home."

Phillips used the insurance money from his first demolished home to buy this one -- now a pile of rubble. A storm shelter built just 18 months ago saved his family. Comparing the two tornadoes, he said the recent one from Monday was worse.

"This one hovered," he said. "It just hovered, it just stayed on top of 'em."

But what takes his story from unlikely to unbelievable is that he plans re-build again in the exact same location. It would have appeared he's got an amazingly positive outlook after these two tornadoes he experienced. "I got to! I got to!" explained Phillips.

Most of his family agrees -- except his stepson, Jason, who said he will never move back to Moore.

"My first words were 'Why'?" said Jason. "'Why?' I love this town. I love the people in this town. But this is the second time in 14 years I've seen my family lose everything."

When he rebuilds, Phillips say he wants a bigger storm shelter. He doesn't think he's jinxed or cursed but fears he might not be a neighborhood favorite. "Every time I move it seems like one follows me so." He added, "I'm just trying to take some of the stuff I've learned and apply it."

Asked if two tornadoes aren't enough, Phillips replied, "No, no, no no, man, I'm a fourth generation Okie, and this is just part of it, unfortunately."

Paul Phillips told us he has always paid the highest premium on his insurance, which is why he's done so well with reimbursements. But some of the other families might not fare so well.