Local woman leads effort to assist tornado victims

One local resident is spearheading an effort to aid families affected by deadly tornadoes that ripped through portions of Northeast Oklahoma and Southwest Missouri last weekend.

Angela Carpenter, an employee of Firstsource, a local health insurance claims company, said Wednesday that she and other volunteers plan to accept donations of needed items from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday at the business, which is located at 4500 Campbell Dr., inside the Fort Scott Industrial Park. Local residents who are interested in making a donation may drop items off at a station that will be situated on the west side of the building.

Carpenter said volunteers will be collecting donations to benefit families affected by tornadoes that tore destructive paths through Picher, Okla., Neosho, Mo., and other towns in that region on Saturday. At least 21 people were killed during one tornado -- at least six in Picher and at least 14 in a rural area west of Neosho -- that was classified as an EF-4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, with wind speeds reaching between 165 and 175 miles per hour, according to National Weather Service reports of the disaster.

"We help out when there is a need," Carpenter said. "I know there are people who know people that live in those areas because it's so close."

Carpenter said she has recruited assistance in the past to help raise money for disaster victims, including a in-house live auction that took place last year to raise money for those people affected by a massive EF-5 tornado that hit Greensburg in May 2007. That twister destroyed nearly 1,000 homes and killed 11 people.

Items that have been requested to be donated on Saturday include water, non-perishable food items, chips, nutrition bars and drinks, coolers, gloves, tarps, first aid kits, safety glasses, ear plugs, razor blades, plastic storage containers, chain saws, Gatorade, cereal, canned goods, diapers, baby formula, personal hygiene items such as shampoo and soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, plastic food storage bags, wheelbarrows, and shovels. No clothing items have been requested at this time, Carpenter said.

Mid-Continental Restoration Company will provide a truck that will transport all of the donated items to the areas affected by the tornadoes, she said.

The Saturday twister that struck parts of Northeast Oklahoma and Southwest Missouri was recorded as the second deadliest tornado of the year behind the EF3 tornado that affected areas northeast of Nashville, Tenn., on Feb. 5. That tornado killed 22 people.

The tornado that affected Picher and Neosho first touched down near the Kansas-Oklahoma border southwest of Chetopa, and began traveling east. About 20 blocks of houses and businesses inside the town of Picher suffered extensive damage and were either destroyed or flattened, NWS reports said.

At least 150 people were injured during the tornado that blew through Picher, a storm that eventually crossed into Missouri near the community of Racine northwest of Neosho. NWS reports said that automobiles in this area were thrown as far as half a mile away.

The twister near Neosho was the deadliest single tornado in Missouri since one hit the St. Louis metropolitan area on Feb. 10, 1959, killing 21 people.

The Saturday tornado lifted just southeast of McDowell, Mo. Debris from the storm traveled as far east as the Springfield, Mo. area about 80 miles to the east of the hardest hit region in southwest Missouri, according to a www.ozarksfirst.com news report.