A man you can count on

Cade works as a junior systems IT administrator at GF Piping Systems in Shawnee, Oklahoma. He grew up in the small town of Seminole, home to just under 8,000 people. On 4 May 2022, a total of 12 tornados swept across Oklahoma with speeds of up to 217 kilometers per hour. Around 7 p.m., a tornado also struck Cade’s hometown of Seminole, tearing off several roofs, destroying homes and uprooting trees. “The town of Seminole had never been hit hard by tornados in the past,” Cade recalls. “It was almost a myth. People believed the place was protected from storms. So when our town was hit after all, this came as a shock to many residents.” When Cade heard about the calls for help from local people looking for volunteers, he did not hesitate. The very next day, he got into his car and drove the 110 kilometers from Shawnee to Seminole to lend a hand.

The IT professional offered to help the authorities and, in addition to his IT and technical skills, used the Google Voice online service to set up an ad-hoc call center for people in need of help. He prepared a list to catalog multiple affected locations and assign priorities based on the severity of the damage. The classification was based on the type of assistance and equipment that was needed at each disaster site. Cade coordinated his work with the Oklahoma disaster management team and the Department of Homeland Security’s on-scene officer. As a result of this concerted action – and only a few hours later – a map showing the priority locations for disaster relief was made available to the numerous volunteers and professional helpers.

The tremendous efforts of the many volunteers such as Cade meant that, only a few weeks after the severe tornado had struck the town, most of the debris had been cleaned up in Seminole. However, there are still sections with noticeable damage that affects many of the residents and the community is still recovering from the shock. What impressed Cade the most was the solidarity of people on site. “When we finished working somewhere, some of us just kept walking down the street until we ran into the next folks who were in need of help. And within minutes, it felt like you’d all known each other forever.” Helping others has always been important to Cade. As a student in college, he volunteered two to three times a week at a soup kitchen, and he also helped out at a food bank and the Salvation Army. When Cade talks about his many selfless acts of support, he usually lowers his head a bit and speaks softly and modestly. Just as if it were no big deal for him – unlike for the people he helped.