Employees Who Sought Safety In Vault Stayed Late To Help

MOORE, Okla. — Employees of Tinker FCU who rode out the tornado that leveled their credit union branch in the building's vault remained into the night Monday to make sure member deposits and safe deposit boxes were protected.

With very little left of the building beside the vault, a number of staff stayed until 10 p.m. Monday until they were relieved by security personnel. "Our staff do an excellent job for our members," said Matthew Stratton, SVP of marketing. "I can't say enough about the job they did. They all had to wait for rides to come pick them up. As you can imagine, all of their cars were destroyed."

Stratton confirmed earlier reports that the office was totally destroyed and said the $3-billion CU's strong branch network will pick up the slack. "Right now our focus in on the membership and we have emergency loans in place."

Stratton said that while it is hectic right now and early, plans are to rebuild in the same spot. "We will be here again to serve our members. I have lived in Tornado Alley my entire life, and this even is no real surprise. We know this can happen, but it's still devastating when it does."