Storm Victims Find Shelter In Glenn Heights School
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GLENN HEIGHTS (CBS11) — Donations of clothes and food are piling up at Frank D Moates Elementary in Glenn Heights where tornado victims are taking shelter.
"We grabbed what we had in the closet and brought it in," said Paul Williams, who arrived with a bag of coats.
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Neighbors keep asking how they can help.
"I could not stay at home and not be involved," said volunteer Periete Todd.
Rows of cots in the school's cafeteria and gym may not make ideal accommodations, but Jessica Bandegas is still grateful.
"We're sleeping here because it's warm," she said.
She, her husband and three children, including 7-week-old Jorge, left their mobile home Saturday night in search of safety.
They found it at the Moates Elementary School shelter.
"As long as they're safe, I'm happy with that, regardless of where I'm at," she said.
Two miles away, Donald T Shields Elementary in Red Oak is itself a tornado victim.
A twister ripped away a back wall, leaving the building unsafe. Red Oak ISD says the campus will be closed for the rest of the school year, and students will attend class at an old junior high campus that was undergoing renovations.
Willard Jordan was a block away from the elementary school when the storm swept through.
"All we could do was run to the closet and pray, ask God to let it pass over us," he said.
It did. Both his home and his family were spared.
But the experience will stick with him.
"That sound… I just can't get that sound out of my head. It does something to you," he said. "You don't take life for granted no more."
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