Manufactured Housing industry businesses along Shields Boulevard in Oklahoma City are still here and intact, as is MH Association of Oklahoma

I closed the office early (Tuesday, May 20) so Corlis and I could run home. We have no shelter here at the office. By the grace of God the tornado stopped 3 miles west of my home…I live just east of Stanley Draper Lake where the tornado lifted. So my family, dogs, horses, chickens and dwelling are all safe. My heart and prayers are going out to a lot of my friends who were not so lucky. Bad thing about this is that we can’t get into the zone to help them with their horses, needs, etc.

Thank you for thinking of us Okie’s!

Tony, I was in the process of composing a letter to a reporter from Channel 9 that was bashing the industry and the park, Steelman Estates, that got leveled several days ago. Lance the reporter, said "this is what to expect from a trailer park…you can't recognize anything, when I reported about the Piedmont damage a while back at least you can still see steel frames and partial homes made of brick." What Lance forgot to remember is that the Piedmont disaster leveled homes to the foundation and killed several children taking shelter with their mom in a bathtub in their $300k home. The pond behind the leveled homes was full of lumber. He also is clueless about the high density of a manufactured home community…compared to a rural estate homes on an acre or as in Moore on a city block(s).

Well now Lance is reporting from Moore and now is saying the same thing "you can't recognize anything, homes are leveled."

The park on Sunday was in the direct path of a F4. The homes in Moore yesterday were destroyed by an F4 (might get upgraded to an F5).

Today I decided that I wouldn’t waste any more time on this reporter who obviously likes sensationalism….the media is now focused on Moore and the elementary school. Our hearts and prayers are going out to everyone who lost loved ones and their homes these past several days. ##

Deanna Fields, Executive Director
Manufactured Housing Association of Oklahoma

(Editor's Note: the MHAO office is also on Shield's Boulevard, right off I-240 and near I-35 in Oklahoma City, OK. This is just a short distance from Tuesday's storm path.)