Oklahoma tornadoes: Disaster relief efforts ongoing for tornado victims

The service center provided ice donated by a local company to a family trying to keep food from spoiling.

Johnson said the Salvation Army is providing meals to victims at the service center, and its mobile unit is feeding victims and disaster relief personnel in a rural area of Calumet.

The Rev. Randy McCown, associate pastor at First Baptist Church of Piedmont, said beds were set up at the church for families needing shelter and church volunteers anticipated fanning out into neighborhoods to help with cleanup efforts.

The Rev. Wendell Lang, senior pastor of Surrey Hills Baptist in Yukon, said his church is about four miles from the affected neighborhoods in Piedmont. The church served as a distribution center Wednesday to cut down on congestion in Piedmont, he said.

The Rev. Kim Hayes, pastor of Bible Baptist Church in Chickasha, said his church offered shelter in partnership with the Red Cross. Many families were seeking clothing, so church volunteers set up a clothing distribution area in the gymnasium. He said Lowes donated bottled water and tarps.

Hayes said other churches in Chickasha also were aiding displaced families and disaster relief personnel.

“It's been amazing to see the outpouring,” he said.