Moore Twister Anniversary: 'We're Back Stronger'

One year has passed since a monster storm appeared on the Oklahoma horizon -- an EF5 tornado with winds over 200 miles an hour, barreling straight toward the city of Moore.

In its path was Briarwood Elementary.

"It was huge," Briarwood mom and teacher LaDonna Cobb recalled. "It was probably a mile and a half wide, half a mile away. And at that moment, it was real."

"You could hear it coming. There was a very surreal pelting," Another teacher, Robin Diedzick, said.

***Jody Gettys, director of Operation Blessing's disaster relief, talked about the aid group's Moore rebuilding efforts on CBN Newswatch, May 20.

Cobb's next thought was to protect the children.

"I got on top of as many kids that I could put my arms over," she said. "The wall fell on top of me and knocked me unconscious immediately."

"And at that moment, I thought that I didn't make it," a tearful Cobb continued. "I thought my daughter was looking at me and I wasn't there."

But she did make it, along with everyone else at Briarwood Elementary. However, seven children at Plaza Towers Elementary died.

In all, 24 people were killed in Moore, hundreds injured and more than a thousand homes were damaged.

One year later, the town is still re-building, and CBN's Operation Blessing has been there to help.

Drive through Moore today and you see recovery: new homes, businesses, and soon, a new Briarwood Elementary School.

"It was just awesome the way that people lifted us up," Diedzick said. "And then the days after it, it just felt like -- a hand on our back, holding us up. We're just come back stronger."