An uneventful but long flight from Moore, Oklahoma ended in horror last week when Shelby Mackenzie turned on her cellphone.
The Coquitlam mom was looking forward to reuniting with her kids, age 4 and 11, and her husband, Darren, after spending four days away in the southwestern U.S. city with her aunt D.D.
She had spent all of Monday in transit, including a seven hour layover in Chicago, mostly with her cellphone turned off. But upon arrival at Vancouver International Airport at about 6 p.m., there were several voice mail messages on her cellphone, including one from her brother for her to call right away.
That's when she heard about the tornado that struck the town of Moore, where she had just been not 12 hours ago.
"I'm on the plane and my heart just went over and I thought it was so shocking and surreal - I just went numb."
All she knew was that a powerful tornado had ripped through the town she had just been visiting. "We still didn't know if everyone was safe."
Fortunately, her aunt's family survived the damaging twister but the home, where Mackenzie stayed in during her visit, was badly damaged. The windows were blown out and several walls had been knocked down. The family survived the ordeal by taking refuge in a closet, Mackenzie said.
Now they are are looking forward to moving into rental accommodation. They have insurance and the entire family, including D.D. and her three sons, are safe.
Other families are not so lucky and Mackenzie said she wants to do something for the survivors.
"I need to focus my energy on something positive," she said, recalling how she spent most of last week in a daze. "I felt helpless. I didn't know what to do," she explained.
Eventually, she came up with the idea of holding a fundraising benefit for the Red Cross in support of the Moore tornado victims because she had heard how the charitable organization supplied her aunt's family with food and water during the emergency.
She's holding it in PoCo, where she grew up and has Mayor Greg Moore on side for the event.
Moore Love for the Moore, Oklahoma tornado victims will be held Saturday, June 8, and will feature an evening of live entertainment, live and silent auctions and raffles at the Port Coquitlam Recreation Centre, starting at 7 p.m.
"I'm trying to get as many people there as I can to help the people of Moore," she said.
She's also looking for donated items to be auctioned. To help out or buy tickets, email Mackenzie at [email protected] Tickets can also be purchased at http://moorefundraiser.eventbrite.com
